


Daughter of the Sea

by daughterofposeidon (buckyismymainman)



Series: Diaries of a Half-Blood God [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Drug and Alcohol Mentions, Gen, The Lightning Thief from Percy's older sisters view, minor cussing, some violence, traumatic past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-01 13:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14521332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckyismymainman/pseuds/daughterofposeidon
Summary: Alex has lived among the gods and among other half-bloods.  She is currently an immortal, not quite a full-blown god, but also not mortal.  She has been blessed with gifts from the gods, and she knows the fate of her younger brother Percy Jackson.  It's her job to help guide him through his journeys to make sure that he isn't the one that will bring about the destruction of the gods and the world as they know it.  No pressure.





	1. Chapter 1

I woke with a start.  The sound of the screams from my dream still ringing in my ears.  The feeling of those hands wrapped around my throat.  I wasn’t sure who it was, I never saw a face, only heard the screaming and the cruel laugh from whoever was holding me.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and took in a deep breath trying to steady my racing heart.  Sweat coated my forehead and my sleep shirt clung to my skin.  The dreams had been happening for over a month now, and that could only mean one thing.  That he was coming.

The brother I had been promised, the brother that I had wished for.  The brother that would either save or destroy us all.  It would be my job to guide him through this world, to show him the way. 

I looked over at the shelves that lined the farthest wall of my cabin.  There were five books and I had read each one of them probably a hundred times.  My curse in a sense.  I was to know my brother's fate, a curse I had asked for myself.

I had been selfish as a child, I wanted to know what fate my brother would bring the world.  The gods had granted my wish.  They had given me five books that told the fate of my brother.  Only I could see the words within them.  I could never share them with another living soul for fear of somehow altering the course of my brother’s life.  One wrong move could have him destroying Olympus once and for all.

It was hard some days looking out over the campers and knowing what was going to happen to them.  Knowing what fate lied before them all because of what the arrival of my brother was going to bring.  The dreams I was seeing at night, I knew it was them.  The sounds of those that would die in a war that I couldn’t stop.

There was a knock on my door and Annabeth peaked inside, “Breakfast is ready, are you coming?”

I nodded, “I’ll be there shortly.”

She left without another word.  Annabeth was one of my oldest friends here, the only one that didn’t really look at me with disdain.  I knew they resented me, I was the only demigod among them that had lived on Olympus, that had not waited to be claimed.  I had come to camp holding my father’s hand when I was seven.

I was eighteen now, I would not age.  I had made a choice to delay the inevitable.  I was not meant to be the child of the prophecy.  So instead I had been made into a god.  I was the protector of the demigods.  I watched over the camp and helped train the new recruits that were brought in ever so often.

Campers would be returning soon, the crowds that left for the winter months would be coming back.  And soon he would be coming.  Chiron had gone to see for himself when Grover had called.  Chiron had come back and said that he was different and that he reminded Chiron of me.

Percy Jackson, that was his name.  He was my half-brother.

I changed into my Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, shorts, and a pair of Converse before making my way to the open air, dining pavilion.  Campers were already there and it appeared that Chiron had already given the early morning announcements.  He waved me over when he saw me enter.

I felt the eyes of the others as they watched me approach the table.  “Good morning Chiron, Mr. D.”  Mr. D merely waved in a way of greeting, not bothering to even look my way.

“Alex, I was hoping that you could take my archery classes for the day.  I have things to do before Percy arrives.”  My heart skipped a beat in my chest.  He was coming soon.  “You cannot tell anyone who he is before he’s claimed.  No special treatment of him, and until the time is right he will stay in the Hermes Cabin, am I understood?”

“Yes of course,” I responded.  “I’m not stupid Chiron, I know that things must follow a certain order.  He will not know the truth until Father claims him.”

Chiron nodded, “Good, you may gather breakfast.”

I walked over and grabbed a plate before walking over to the fire and scrapping in a portion, “Bring him here safely Father.”

There was no reply.  There was never a reply.  I barely heard from him nowadays.  I hadn’t gone home for winter.  Considering Olympus home seemed odd.  I had lived at Camp Half-Blood since I was seven, preferring the company of my fellow half-bloods over that of the gods.

I slid into the empty table meant for Poseidon members.  I used to look at the other tables and become envious of how many siblings they had.  But it was an unspoken rule to sit with your own cabin at mealtimes.

Once we were all finished I headed to the archery range to set up before the first group of campers arrived.  By lunch I was fighting off fatigue.  I may have been immortal, but I wasn’t like the other gods, I was promised that my immortality would only last until after the prophecy had been fulfilled, and thus still retained some human traits.

I made my way back to my cabin and grabbed a book before finding a shady tree to sit under and eat a small lunch.  Annabeth joined me, bringing her own book.  The two of us sat in silence reading.  “You seem off,” she said after about fifteen minutes of silence.  “What’s wrong?”

I bit into my apple, trying to choose my words carefully, “I can’t really tell you.”

“Don’t trust me?”  I felt her storm cloud grey eyes on me. 

I looked over at her, it was odd for a daughter of Athena and a daughter of Poseidon to be friends, but there was a connection between the two of us.  Maybe it was because I knew how close she was going to become with my brother.  “I do trust you, it’s just….”

“Chiron asked you not to say anything,” she didn’t know about the books that I had. I had kept that from her as well.

I nodded my head, “Yes, he just doesn’t want rumors to spread, and I know you wouldn’t say anything, I just don’t want to risk anyone overhearing or angering Chiron.”  My old mentor could be scary when he was angry.

“Then I won’t ask, but you would talk to me if it was something else right?”

“Of course,” I took her hand and squeezed it.  “You’re the closest thing I have to a sister here.”

She smiled at me before turning back to her book.  I was relieved that she didn’t press the issue further.  We continued to read and eat in silence before long lunch was over and we got back to our activities. 

 

That night dark storm clouds gathered around the camp.  I watched them with interest.  It never stormed inside the camp borders unless we allowed it.  But that did not stop it from storming around our little patch of land.

I knew what the storm clouds meant.  He would be arriving soon.

I went to my cabin and waited.  It became later and later until I sensed a disturbance at the edge of the camp.  I could always tell when monsters came too close, or when there were campers arriving in danger.  I jumped up from my bed and went running for the Big House. 

Chiron was still up reading a book that appeared to be falling apart.  He looked up at me as I entered.  “He’s here, and he’s in danger.”

Chiron nodded, “Go get Annabeth, we’ll need her help.”

I rushed out of the Big House and down to the Athena Cabin where most of them were asleep, save for Annabeth who was reading by flashlight.  She looked over when the door opened.  I waved at her, she put her book aside and slipped on her tennis shoes.

“What’s going on?”  She asked once we were outside and heading for Half-Blood Hill. 

“There’s a camper coming in, he’s in danger.  Chiron told me to come and get you, that we would need your help.”  That was all I told her, I didn’t tell her about how he was going to be claimed as my brother and part of the prophecy.

Annabeth and a handful of other campers knew of the Great Prophecy.  Mainly the head councilors of each cabin.  They needed to know in case something like one of the Big Three children showing up at our doorstep.

We met with Chiron and started climbing the hill in time to see a dark figure collapse onto the ground.  The three of broke into a run.  When we reached him his eyes were fluttering shut, and I caught a glimpse of the same green eyes I had.  I felt Annabeth looked up at me.

“Help me get him onto my back,” Chiron said.

Annabeth and I hefted my brother onto Chiron’s back and I watched as he slowly made his way back to the Big House.  I looked back at an unconscious Grover and told Annabeth to go on.  I held my hands over Grover and a second later he bolted upright.

“Percy!”  He looked around wildly searching for any signs of Percy.

“Calm down Grover, you made it.  Chiron and Annabeth have taken him back to the Big House.  They’ll take care of him there.  Are you all right?  Do you need me to heal anything?  I only did enough to wake you.”  I looked him over, but couldn’t see any external damages.

He waved me off, “I’m fine, just worried about Percy is all.  Is he okay?”

“He passed out, but with some nectar and ambrosia he should be okay.”  I started down the hill, “Come on, I’ll fix you some tea and get you some cans to munch on.  You must be hungry after all you’ve been through to get him here.”

“Thanks, Alex,” he sighed as he followed me back to the Big House.  “I failed you know.  I may have gotten him here, but we lost his mother on the way.  The minotaur killed her.”  I looked over to see the sadness on his face.  “He loved her so much and I failed to protect her.”

I placed a hand on his shoulder, “Don’t think like that Grover, I’m sure you did everything you could.  Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we wish they would.”

“But-but they’re going to tell me that I can’t be a searcher now!  That’s my life’s dream Alex, you know this.”  Grover had wanted to be a searcher for as long as I’d known him.  His whole family had been searchers before him.  The satyrs were all looking for the lost god Pan, and one day Grover would find him, but I couldn’t exactly tell him that.

“Don’t give up hope,” is what I offered instead.

We made it to the kitchen and Grover took a seat in one of the warn chairs that looked like it had been here since the dawn of time.  It creaked a little and Grover cringed as if waiting for it to collapse on him.  I put on a pot of tea and looked for the extra cans that camp left around for the satyrs.

I passed them over and he began to chew on them in the nervous way Grover did.  I could tell he was still stressed about losing his license and nothing I could say would cheer him up at this particular time.  I poured two cups of tea and passed one to Grover taking the spot across from him.

After a little while Chiron and Annabeth joined us in the kitchen.  “He’s stable,” Chiron announced.  “He’ll be in and out of it for a few days, but he should wake.”

I relaxed in my seat.  “I’ll tell the Hermes Cabin to expect a new tenant in a few days then.  I don’t know where they’ll put him, they’re running out of room in there.”  The Hermes Cabin had been overcrowded for some time now.  Some of them were actually Hermes’s children, others were waiting to be claimed by their godly parent.  “We should really talk about expanding it Chiron, they’re sleeping on top of one another.”

He nodded, “We can discuss that later, but for right now all of you should go to bed.  It’s been a long day and you need your rest.  Especially you Annabeth, you have training in the morning.”  She agreed but not without some complaint.  I stayed a little longer talking with Grover as he finished his cans and tea.

Before long I was heading back to my cabin and collapsing on my bunk before being haunted by the same dreams that had plagued me for a month.


	2. Chapter 2

When Percy finally woke a few days later I was sitting on the porch enjoying a game of pinochle with Mr. D and Chiron.  Mr. D would constantly lose to Chiron, and when he thought he was about to win Chiron would reveal a winning hand.  I had to fight back the urge to laugh, I did not want to be on Mr. D’s bad side.

I heard the clomping of hooves and saw Groover coming around the corner with Percy.  He looked a little pale, but it was good to see him awake.  “Mr. D, Chiron, Alex this is Percy Jackson.”

“Percy, I’m so glad you’re all right.  You scared us the other night when we found you unconscious on Half-Blood Hill.”  Chiron was in his wheelchair, he didn’t want to overload Percy with too much information all at once.  He figured if Percy saw him how he had known him back at school it would make him more comfortable.

“Thanks, Mr. Brunner,” he ran a hand through his hair and glanced at me.  I tried to keep my face impassive.  “Uh what is this place?”  Not a second later I heard the leaves behind me rustle, and knew that Annabeth was using her invisibility cap to listen in.

Before Mr. Brunner could explain I stood up and said, “I need to go, archery practice is about to start and if I’m not there within five minutes the Demeter Cabin is going to leave me.”  I made my way past Chiron and Percy, and stopped on the stairs, “Don’t show him the orientation film.  It doesn’t help.”  With that I was off.

I could feel Percy’s eyes on me as I made my way down to the training area of camp where I could see the members of the Demeter Cabin waiting for me.

An hour later when I had finished my attempt at teaching the Demeter Cabin archery that Chiron approached me.  “Annabeth is getting him settled into the Hermes Cabin now.  He was curious about you.”

I arched an eyebrow, “Curious how?”

“He noticed your eyes Alex, he was asking who you were and what cabin you were in.  I told him that you were in the Poseidon Cabin, that you were the only camper living there,” we began walking back towards my cabin now.  “I wanted to give you a heads up because he might try to approach you and ask you questions.”

“And I’ll be ready for them,” I responded.  “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a while now Chiron.  I’m not going to reveal anything.  Just because he’s here doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how things work.  If I tell him who he is then I risk altering his fate and that is not something I am willing to risk.”

We stopped at my cabin.  I looked up and saw Percy standing in the doorway of the Hermes Cabin watching Chiron’s and I’s interaction.  “I know you know this Alex, I just also know how long you’ve been wishing for this.”

“I’m fine Chiron,” with that I turned and headed into my cabin.

* * *

 

Percy lined up with the rest of the Hermes Cabin when it was time for dinner.  He thought that the cabin was a little too crowded, and wondered why the gods couldn’t just claim their children, or at least make the cabin bigger.

Luke Castellan, the head of the Hermes Cabin, slapped Percy on the back.  “You’re looking a little green man, don’t sweat this so much, it’s just dinner.”

Percy nodded and Luke called for the Hermes Cabin to fall in.  Everyone gathered outside the cabin and that when Percy noticed her again.  Alex, the girl from this morning and the girl who lived in the Poseidon Cabin.  He had asked Chiron about her, but he had been tight-lipped.

Luke noticed the interest that Percy had taken and chuckled, “I see you’ve noticed Alex, she’s our resident god in training.  Spends part of the year on Olympus,” Percy didn’t notice the bitterness in Luke’s voice when he said the last part.

“She doesn’t live with her mortal parent?”  Percy glanced away from the girl to his new mentor of sorts.

Luke shook his head, “She doesn’t talk about her mother a lot.  Rumor is that her mother was a drug addict and an alcoholic.  One day when the two were at the beach Poseidon swept her out to sea and took her to Olympus to live.  Now she’s immortal.”

“Then why does she live here?  If she’s immortal shouldn’t she be with the other gods?”

“She’s not technically a god, there’s a stipulation to her being immortal.  It was to help prevent something, and until that something has passed she will forever be immortal.  She was given the option to stay on Olympus and live there in luxury, but she chooses to stay here with us, to train and protect others.”

Percy found that admirable that she would choose to live here even if she could live on Olympus with the other gods.  If given the chance he didn’t know what he would choose.

Luke didn’t say any more on the subject as they all made their way to the dining hall.

* * *

 

Chiron announced capture the flag this coming Friday and I could feel the thrill go through everyone.  Friday night capture the flag was a past time we all liked.  Currently the teams were Athena versus Ares.  Two formidable opponents.   

Once dinner was done Annabeth slid into the bench beside me, “So are you going to be joining us for Friday night capture the flag?”

“Is this your roundabout way of asking me if I’m aligning with you,” I said with a laugh.  “If so then yes, yes I am.”

Annabeth smiled, “Great, oh have you heard the latest news about the new kid Percy?”

I froze in my seat for a moment and then said, “No, what’s going on?”

“Clarisse was going to drown him in the toilets today, but then water shot up out of the toilets, the sinks, everything and drenched all of us, except for him.”  Annabeth shook her head in disbelief.  “I’ve never seen anything like it, except with you.  But this is good, maybe Chiron will grant us a quest.”

Quests had been forbidden for a while now, ever since Luke came back from one with an injury that left a scar on his face.  Chiron said it wasn’t worth risking anyone, that there were so few of us anyways.  Annabeth hadn’t been happy about that, and had been trying for years to let him let her leave.

Annabeth didn’t have a good relationship with her mortal parent just like I did.  But unlike me, she couldn’t walk out of camp anytime she pleased.  It frustrated her to no end.

I patted her back, “Maybe.”  Someone from her cabin called her over and she said her goodbyes.  I watched her and the other cabins leave before making my way down to my own. 

 

The next day I was sitting in my usual spot under a tree eating lunch and reading when a shadow passed in front of me.  I looked up to see Percy standing there.  He looked like he had a lot on his mind.  I motioned for him to sit and he hesitated for a moment before joining me.

“They say you’re a god, is that true?”  The question came out abruptly.

I marked my place in my book and looked over at him, “Straight to the point I see.”  A blush rose up on his cheeks.  “I can’t fault you for being curious.  This place is like a whole new world, and it can be a little hard to adjust to, just be glad you weren’t thrown into the deep end when you found out.”

“It feels like I was thrown into the deep end,” he grumbled.

“I was raised on Olympus, my dad took me away from my mom when I was five.  I don’t remember much about how I wound up at my father’s underwater palace, but I remember being surrounded by water.  Then he took me to Olympus, claiming that I would be safer there.  I grew up around the gods, and before my sixteenth birthday they changed me.”

“Why?”  I looked out over the valley, I wasn’t sure how to tell him this.  What I should divulge and what I should keep a secret. 

Finally I shrugged, “There some important thing that’s going to happen.  That’s all I can tell you.  I’m sworn to secrecy.”

He was quiet.  “Why aren’t there any other Poseidon children?”

I bit my lip, “Dad and his brothers made a promise to not have kids.  He broke that promise when he had me, and Zeus broke his promise when he had Thalia.  Thalia, unfortunately, wasn’t as lucky as I was.  I was here when it happened.  I saw what went down on Half-Blood Hill.”  I glanced in that direction seeing the lone pine tree standing sentinel, protecting the valley from monsters.

“Annabeth was telling me a little about that.  Said that monsters followed Thalia and two other demigods here.”

“Her, Luke, and Thalia were brought her by a satyr.  There were hordes of monsters after them.  Thalia made the decision to fend them off so that Luke and Annabeth could make it to safety along with the satyr.  I was coming to help, but I was too late.  There was a bolt of lightning and then suddenly Thalia was a tree.”  I looked away and back to Percy, “It was hard witnessing something like that happening.”

Percy was silent, “Do you know who my father is?  It’s just… they say you’re close with the gods and I was just wondering if any of them had talked about having a son.”

My heart ached, I wanted to tell him the truth, but I held back.  “Sorry, you’re just going to have to wait to be claimed.”

There was a rumble coming from the Big House and I felt my father’s presence.  “I’m sorry to cut this short, but there’s something that needs my attention.”  I stood and raced toward the Big House.  When I entered I saw my father standing there glaring at Chiron who was trying to be diplomatic.

“I’m sorry sir, I know that this is an inconvenience, but….”

“I want it fixed Chiron,” my father snapped.

“What’s wrong?”  I moved forward, the two men turning to me. 

My father’s face softened when he saw me, “Alex, darling, it’s nothing.”

“It’s about Percy isn’t it?”  I looked down at what he was holding and saw a school photo of Percy and a picture of his mother.  The newspaper headline said something about Percy kidnapping his mother.  “Hand it to me.”  I held out my hand and my father reluctantly passed the paper to me.

I skimmed the article and saw that Percy’s stepfather was spreading a lie that Percy had kidnapped his own mother and destroyed his car.  I balled up the paper and tossed it into the fireplace.  The pips overhead creaked and the house groaned.

Chiron held up his hands, “As of right now there’s nothing that can be done about this, but while he’s here he’s safe.  I promise you that.”

“But for how long?”  Poseidon asked.  “We all know what’s going to happen.  He’s the child of the prophecy.”

Chiron looked like he had aged ten years, “There is still time, more children could come forward.”

“I’ve already put a target on his back, if they think there’s any chance that he will be the child of the prophecy they’ll kill them.”

I scoffed, “As if I would allow that to happen.  I’d die and go to Tartarus before I allowed the other gods to even lay a finger on him.”

“While that’s admirable Alex,” Chiron said in a diplomatic tone.  “We don’t need a civil war breaking out over one child.  At some point another one will come forward, and you can’t just keep killing demigods.  Kronos will rise whether we like it or not and have a child of the Big Three around could be useful.”

“It will be,” I said.  “I’ve seen it.”

Chiron and Father turned to me.  Dad rubbed his chin, “I forgot about those books.  You’ll help him won’t you Alex?”

“Of course, he’s my brother,” I told him.

“Then fine, I’ll claim him in a few days’ time.  The others won’t react well to this, especially since they think he stole Zeus’s master bolt.”

Zeus’s master bolt had been missing since the Winter Solstice.  And for some reason Zeus believed Percy had stolen it.  Which is ludicrous since Percy just found out what he was.  But the King of the gods could not be reasoned with. 

“Everything will be fine Dad, trust me.”

He walked over and placed a kiss on the top of my head, “I do trust you Alex, more that you could ever know.  We’ll speak soon, and watch out for Percy, he could be in trouble here as well.”

With that he disappeared leaving behind the scent of the sea.  Chiron sighed, “Your father may have a right to be paranoid about Percy’s safety here.  I’ve had this feeling since the Solstice.”

“I know Chiron, and trust me things are only going to get more complicated from here, but I’m going to do my best to make sure that things work out the way they’re supposed to.”

“I hope so Alex, I hope so.”


	3. Chapter 3

When Friday finally arrived, the camp was buzzing with activity.  Final alliances were made and teams were formed.  Practices were harder to teach since most of the kids just wanted to strategize before tonight.

I knew Annabeth already had a plan whirling around in her head.  She always had a plan and had been successful in leading her team to victory several times.  I always aligned myself with the Athena Cabin, that seemed to shock most people, but Annabeth and I worked well together.

I was perched on my porch steps when Percy approached me again, he had stayed away since that day that he had come to me under the tree.  “Uh are you busy?”

I set aside the book I had been reading.  It was one of the books that told me everything about Percy’s future.  I was checking to make sure things were going the way they were supposed to.  I could tell he was eyeing the book and thinking it strange that it was blank.  Annabeth had once asked me if they were journals that I just hadn’t written in them yet.

“No, what can I help you with?”  I scooted over so that he could sit beside me.

“I was hoping you could tell me a little more about Camp.  We were interrupted the other day when I came to talk with you.”  He rubbed one of his arms and gazed out over the other cabins.

“What would you like to know?”

“When did you arrive?”

“I was seven when I finally left the safety of Olympus and came here.  Like I said that was before Thalia’s tree protected the borders.  It was quite a shock for Chiron when my father and I entered the camp hand in hand.  Nothing like that had ever happened before, and Chiron hadn’t even known that Poseidon had had a child.  They took me in, trained me, and now we’re here.”

“How old were you when Thalia and them arrived?”

“Twelve, the same age as Luke and Thalia.”  I had been at camp for about five years at that point.

Percy grew quiet for a moment, “What are you hiding from me?”

I looked over at him startled, he was staring at me with such an intensity that it reminded me of our father.  “I—”

“Don’t lie,” he said.  “You know something and you aren’t telling me and it’s bothering me.”

I clenched my hands together, my nails digging into my palms.  “Percy, I wish I could tell you, but there are somethings that I’m not allowed to reveal.”  I picked the book up and stood.  “Go prepare for tonight.  It’ll be fun, and from what I hear we’ll be on the same team.”  I closed my cabin door behind me.

 

Chiron tried to make announcements, but the other campers were too rowdy.  Giving up he led us to the woods and went over the rules.  With the necessities out of the way he let us go.  I followed Annabeth into the woods.  She was talking with Percy, putting him on border patrol by the creek.

He didn’t look too happy about it, but marched off in that direction.  Before Annabeth could tell me what I was to do I followed after him.  He stood there trying to adjust the armor that was just a little too big for him, and hold the sword that wasn’t weighted very well.  It was too heavy for him.

I stood on the bank overlooking the creek watching him just stand there frowning.  Then I heard movement and looked over to see Clarisse and some of her siblings coming out of the dark woods.  They had determined looks on their faces and I knew they were here to get revenge for the other day.

They began to fight Percy, and he stumbled back into the creek.  I knew what was about to happen.  He was stronger in the water.  I watched as he broke Clarisse’s staff.  She bellowed in rage, but before she could attack I stepped out of the shadows.  “Enough,” I barked.

Clarisse and her siblings glared up at me.  The sound of a horn blew and we all looked over just in time to see the Hermes Cabin bringing the flag over.  “He was a distraction!”  Clarisse yelled in outrage.

I hoped down and smirked at her, “Of course he was, Annabeth isn’t an idiot.  She knew you wouldn’t be able to resist coming after Percy after he embarrassed you the other day.” 

People were starting to gather around us now.  Chiron came trotting over to congratulate the winning team when a hair-raising howl rang through the woods, silencing us all.  I whirled around in time to see a Hellhound leap onto Percy.

In a second I had a sword in hand ramming the celestial bronze through the flesh of the Hellhound.  It evaporated into dust.  “Someone get a medic!”  A camper yelled.

“No!”  I shouted.  Everyone seemed to freeze.  I picked Percy up and began dragging him toward the creek.

“What are you doing?”  He struggled against my grip before I tossed him into the water.

“Healing you,” I stood there and watched as the injury the Hellhound caused slowly began to heal over until Percy’s skin was left unblemished.  He stood and looked down at his arm, then his gaze met mine.  Over his head a glowing green trident appeared, our father had claimed him.  “Behold, Percy Jackson son of Poseidon.”

Chiron and the other campers bowed, and Percy looked at his friends.  People would look at him differently now.  He’d have to move out of the Hermes Cabin and in with me.  My eyes met Luke’s and I mouthed, “Gather his things.”  Luke nodded and slipped away.

“I think this has been enough excitement for one night, head to bed everyone.  We have training tomorrow.”  Campers grumbled, some shooting curious gazes at Percy and I.

When everyone had pretty much disappeared Percy said to me, “You knew this entire time who I was and who my parent was didn’t you?”

I nodded, “I’m sorry that I kept it from you, but like I said before there are just certain things I’m not allowed to tell.  Dad had to claim you when the time was right.  I couldn’t interfere.”

“What does this mean for me now?”

“Nothing at the moment, I’ll take over your training and you’ll live with me in the Poseidon Cabin.  Other than that nothing has truly changed.  The campers may treat you a little differently, but once they get used to another Poseidon kid around then they’ll warm back up to you.”

Percy was quiet, thinking things over, “Why now?  Why not when I first came?”

I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and started leading him back to our cabin.  “Zeus believes you’ve stolen the master bolt, Father felt like if he revealed you too soon then they might try to kill you.  But he’s growing desperate.  You’re his only way of proving that you didn’t steal the master bolt for him.”

“Up until earlier this week I didn’t even know the Greek gods existed,” he said.  “And now the King of the gods is accusing me of stealing something, this is ridiculous.”

“We’ll prove your innocence, and I won’t let anything happen to you okay.  You’re my little brother and I’m going to protect you.”

We were quiet the rest of the way to our cabin.  When we entered he asked which bunk he could take and I told him anyone he wanted.  He picked on closer to the window and curled up into a ball, within a matter of minutes he was passed out asleep.

 

In the morning I woke up to find Percy was still asleep.  It was early, most campers wouldn’t be awake yet.  I grabbed my clothes and headed for the showers.  I showered as quickly as I could and then headed for the strawberry fields.  There were some satyrs already there working on making the strawberries grow bigger and some were harvesting the ripe ones. 

I found a basket and began to help them.  The satyrs shot me grateful looks as we worked together in silence.  Whenever I woke up early or had enough time on my hands I would come here and help them out however much I could.  The Demeter Cabin would likely join them after breakfast.

It wasn’t until about an hour later that I heard other campers waking up and beginning their day.  I saw the lines heading toward the pavilion.  I handed my basket to one of the satyrs and promised to drop by later to help some more.

I met Percy at the pavilion.  “Where were you?”  He asked as we took a seat at our table.

“I woke up early, sometimes I like to help the satyrs in the strawberry fields.  I meant to return before you woke up, but I was so lost in the work that I forgot.  I’m not used to sharing the cabin with anyone else.”  I popped a fresh strawberry in my mouth and looked at his plate.  He had a stack of blue pancakes and some other assorted blue food.  “What’s with all the blue?”

He looked down at his plate and moved some food around with his fork.  “It’s something that my mom and I used to do.  Someone once told me that there was no such thing as blue food, so to prove them wrong my mom started making blue food.  She used to work at a candy shop and every time I would return home she would bring only the blue candy with her.”

“I’m sorry to hear what happened to her.”  I reached across the table and squeezed his hand.

He looked like he was trying to fight off tears, “I guess I’ll be a year-rounder like you now.”

“We could get an apartment in the city if you wish,” I said.  “I can mask your scent so monsters won’t smell you and you could go to school.”  I knew that his mother wasn’t really dead.  Hades was holding her, and would hold her until he got the master bolt from my brother.  But I wanted to give him some hope that he wouldn’t have to spend the rest of his childhood here training and fighting all the time.

He gave me a little smile, “That sounds nice.”

I relaxed and retracted my hand.  “We don’t have to decide anything right now, but once the summer starts to come to a close we’ll look for a place together.  I bet I could even get us a nice place.”

He nodded, “So what’s on the agenda for today?”

“Well I hadn’t really planned anything.  There’s a lot of things we could do.  I should probably teach you about your abilities.  And maybe we could go to the beach?  It’s been a while and I would love to spend some time out there.”

Luke walked over to our table and said, “Hey Alex, do you have plans to teach Percy how to sword fight?”

I shrugged, “I mean I guess so, now that he’s in the Poseidon Cabin with me I was going to take over his training, why?”

“I was just wondering if I could keep working with him on that, I’ve enjoyed training him.  Kids got natural talent.”  He slapped Percy on the shoulder who seemed relieved that one other person was treating him normally.

I looked at Percy, “Is that all right with you?”

He looked between Luke and I, “Yeah that’s fine.”

“Can I have him for the day though?”  I asked Luke.  “I wanted sibling bonding time.  You can have him an extra hour tomorrow if that makes up for it.”

Luke shrugged, “Nah, it’s cool with me.  I’ll see you tomorrow Percy, we’ll have a private session right after lunch.”  He left to rejoin his cabin and headed out to do their activities for the day.

Chiron made his way over to our table, a bright smile on his face, “I assume things are going well.”

I nodded, “Yep, Percy and I are going to take the day to spend time together and I’m going to teach him a little about his powers.”

“Good idea Alex, if you need me you know where to find me, if not I will see the two of you tonight at dinner.”

I led Percy to the camp store and bought him some extra clothes.  He seemed a little embarrassed and I told him he could pay me back when he had the money, to think of this as a loan since he didn’t get a chance to bring much with him.

He changed into the new swim trunks I had gotten him and I led him to the beach at the back of Camp.  Being close to the water again made me smile and I felt myself itching to dive right into the water.  Percy seemed a little skeptical.  “The water can’t hurt you,” I told him.  “Neither can the creatures that reside here.  I mean if you run across a sea monster then maybe, but just normal sea creatures will leave you alone.”

He took a few steps forward and I saw him relax, “The ocean was always my favorite place to go with my mom.”

I moved to stand beside him and took his hand, “Percy….”  I paused wanting to choose my words carefully, “There are so many things I wish I could tell you right now.  But I’m going to try to work around this, to give you hope.”

His eyes lit up, “She’s still alive isn’t she?”

“I can’t answer that honestly, but there is a chance she could still be alive.  You’ll find out soon enough, I only wanted to tell you because I know how much you miss her, and I thought that maybe if you had some hope it would make things easier for you.”

He hugged me which shocked me, “Thank you, Alex.”

“Anytime,” I said as I wrapped my arms around him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this idea since I read Percy Jackson when I was 12 (I'm 20 now so that was a little bit ago lol). I hope you all are enjoying it.  
> Unbeta'd


	4. Chapter 4

While Percy was training with Luke the next day I took the opportunity to go and see Chiron.  “You want to go where?”

“To Percy’s old apartment, I need to see this place for myself, I need to meet his stepfather.”  I shoved my hands into my pockets.  I had borrowed a suit that a social worker or a detective might be wearing.  “I’ll only be gone for a little while.  Percy’s with Luke right now, I have an hour tops.”

“Alex,” Chiron seemed exasperated.  “I don’t know.”

“Dad wants the whole mess cleared up, let me just see what I can do to ease the tension.  I want Percy to be able to live outside of Camp once the summer is over.  I talked to him about getting an apartment.  I can’t do that if Gabe and the NYPD are after him.”

“All right, but what if it takes you longer and Percy comes looking for you?”

“Tell him the truth,” I said bluntly.  “I’ll be back, don’t worry so much.  You know the monsters can’t touch me now.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean that I still can’t worry about you.”  Chiron looked out the window, “All right, you can go, but only if Argus drives.”

I knew that this was going to be the only way that he would let me leave Camp.  “Deal.”

Chiron and I found Argus washing the van that was used for transportation.  Chiron told Argus where I wanted to go, and Argus merely nodded.  I climbed into the passenger’s seat and off we went.  The ride into the city was a silent one, Argus was a man of few words.  He was better at just observing, the man did have a hundred eyes.

We reached the apartment complex where Percy and his mother lived and I got out.  I glanced down the street to make sure there were no actual cops around.  When I didn’t see anything that would suggest they were here questioning Gabe, I buzzed the apartment number.

“Who is it?”  Came a gruff voice.  “I’m not doing any more TV interviews.”

“My name is Alexa Cavallo with the NYPD, I’m just here to follow up with you on your missing wife and stepson.”

There was a moment of silence, and then the door buzzed granting me access into the building.  I walked in and looked around.  It was a squatty place, the walls were dirty and it smelled of alcohol and poor choices.  I could see why Sally would want Percy to live here.  The smell was the only thing protecting him from monsters finding him.

I walked up the stairs not trusting the rickety elevator to get me to the right floor, and stopped in front of Gabe’s apartment.  I cringed at the smell, it was worse than downstairs.  Pizza, old gym shorts, cigars, and stale beer wafted through the door.  I reluctantly lifted my hand and knocked.

A second later it swung open to reveal a man with a beer gut and greasy hair… what was left of it that is.  He looked me up and down, a smirk forming on his face that made my skin crawl.  “Aren’t you a little young to be a detective with the NYPD?”

“No, may I come in?”  He stepped aside letting me into the small apartment.

“I’m sorry about the mess, with the little wife gone there’s been no one to clean it.”  I gritted my teeth and counted to ten trying to resist the urge to deck the man.  “What did you want to know?  I figured they’d asked me everything that you all needed to.”

“Just a few follow up questions is all sir.  We believe that Percy was not the one that took your wife, that they were both abducted the night they went missing.  How was Percy’s and Sally’s home life?  Did they ever complain about anyone watching them?”

“Percy was almost never here, he was a delinquent, his mom sent him off to boarding school every year.  She didn’t want him around and I could understand.  Such an ungrateful kid.  If you find him tell him not to bother coming home, and tell Sally I expect her to make me dinner.  I’ve been living off take out for the past week.”

I turned to face him, trying to keep my face as neutral as possible, “So you don’t want to keep the boy?”

“No, he’s been nothing but a pain in my ass since the day I married his mother.  I’ve been very generous up to this point, but not anymore.  This was the last straw.”

I nodded, “All right then, I think I have everything I need to know.  We’ll be in contact when we know more.”

I began to leave, but he stepped in front of my path.  “What’s the hurry?  Would you like to stay for a drink?”

I sneered at him, “I’m on duty and I wouldn’t be caught dead having a drink with a pig like you.”  I shoved him out of the way storming out of the apartment with him yelling expletives at me.  I slammed the door to the van and said, “Let’s get back to Camp, Argus.”

He nodded and pulled out into the city traffic.  We arrived back at Camp and I stormed off mumbling under my breath at how much of an ass he was.  Chiron was watched me pass as I began tugging off the jewelry and other accessories that had been loaned to me.

I marched up to the Aphrodite Cabin and knocked on the door.  Silena opened the door and took one look at my face and asked, “Didn’t go well huh?”

I handed her the things she had lent me, “No it did not.  I swear he is the most despicable human being on the planet.  I feel like I have to take ten showers to just wash the smell off of me.”

Silena gave me an understanding smile, “Bring the clothes back whenever you can okay?  And you might want to go looking for your brother afterward, he’s been asking where you are.”

I sighed, “If you see him before I do just tell him I’ll find him when I’m clean.”  I headed to the showers with the extra set of clothes Silena had held onto for me and spent a good amount of time under the water just letting it wash my experience with Gabe off.

I couldn’t believe that Percy had to deal with that man for as long as he had.  That his mother had put up with the treatment.  But I could understand why she had done it, she did it to protect her son.  I couldn’t fault her for that.

Once I didn’t feel quite as icky I dried off and headed off to find Percy.  He was sitting by the lake skipping stones.  Annabeth had been with him, but she had stormed off in the other direction.  I sat down beside him, “Where’d you go?”

“To see your stepfather,” I said.  Percy’s head snapped over to me.  “I had to see what he was like, you’ve been in the paper.  He’s been saying you kidnapped your mother.  I pretended to be a detective and talked to him.  He said if you ever showed up to tell you that you weren’t welcomed back.”

He snorted, “No surprise there.”

“But that’s good news for us because that means we can live together.  And I’ll make sure everyone knows that you didn’t hurt your mother, and since I’m your sister I could get custody of you.”  I tried to smile, but I could see the troubled look on his face.  “What’s wrong?  Is it because I went to see your stepfather without telling you?  Or is it because I’m talking about living together?”

“No it’s what Annabeth and I just talked about,” he said.  “She wants to get a quest from Chiron.  Things on Olympus are getting worse.”

“The Solstice,” I said.  “Zeus has given Dad until then to give the master bolt back.”

He nodded, “But I don’t know.  Alex what do you think?  Should I do this?  Should I go on a quest?”

Once again I was caught between a rock and a hard place.  “That is up to you, but if you decide to go on a quest I will support you no matter what.”

He stood and held out his hand to me.  I took it and stood up with him.  “I’m glad that I’m not alone here.  That I have you here with me.”

We stood by the lake for a long time just staring out over its glassy surface.  I debated telling him to go talk to Chiron about the quest, but he had to come to that conclusion on his own.  When it was time for dinner he was still lost in thought.

 

We were in the arena the next day sparring with one another.  I had asked Luke if he minded me taking over for the day, and he told me to go for it.  I could see the thoughts swirling through Percy’s head.  He was still thinking over what Annabeth had asked of him the day before.

“Why don’t we talk about it?”  I said breaking the silence that had stretched out before us.  “You tell me your fears and worries, and try to work through it that way.”

Percy came at me with his sword, but I managed to block the attack.  “All right.”  He lunged again, but I parried.  “I just don’t think that this is the best idea.  Dad only claimed me because he wants me to clear his name.  Why should I even try?  I’m not the one that stole the master bolt in the first place.”

I stopped, “Is that what you think?”

He stopped too, bending over to take in a deep breath before looking back up at me.  “Isn’t it?  He’s in trouble and Zeus has given him until the summer solstice to return the bolt to him or it will be all-out war.  He’s caught me in the middle of this immortal feud.”

I tossed him a bottle of water, “Percy, Dad didn’t claim you because he needs you to get the master bolt back for him.  I mean that is one reason, but Dad cares about you.  I know it may not seem like it, but gods aren’t supposed to have a lot of interaction with their ki—”

“What makes you so special then?”  He snapped at me.  His anger flaring up.

I gripped my water bottle a bit tighter and stabbed my sword into the ground, “I’m not special.  In fact I hate that I got to spend so much time with Dad and the others.  It made me an outcast her for a long time.”

“Yeah and now you’re loved by everyone, and you got to live with Dad.  He didn’t abandon you.”  So that was what this was about.

“I would have given anything to live with my mom Percy, but life just didn’t work out that way.  We all have a path we have to follow and this was mine.  I was taken to Olympus to be groomed into the immortal I am today.  I have a purpose in the story, and so do you.”

“I hate it when you’re cryptic!”  He shouted.  “You’re never straight with me on things.  And if you wanted to live with your mother so badly why didn’t you just leave Olympus after they made you immortal?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said.  I could feel my eyes burning with tears that were threatening to spill over.  “It’s not important.”

“Luke told me that she was an alcoholic and a drug addict is that true?”  He wasn’t going to let this go.

I pulled the sword out of the ground.  “This conversation is over.  Decide whether or not to go on the quest alone, I don’t care what you choose.”  I turned on my heel and stormed out of the arena. 

I made my way to my cabin and lifted a loose board near my bunk.  I pulled out the little toy of a black and white Pegasus.  The wing was broken in one place, but one swift move and a fully grown Pegasus would appear.

I headed outside and saw Percy racing toward me, shouting my name.  I put the wing of the Pegasus back in place and watched as it began to grow.  The Pegasus looked at me, _Long time no see Alex._

“Hello Nyx, mind if we go for a ride?”

 _Sure, hop on._ I did and she took off into the sky.  _I take it you don’t want to be bothered right now._

“Not really, no.  It’s been an interesting day.”  I patted her side.  “It’s nice to be riding again.”

_Wanna talk about what happened?  I take it that boy shouting your name is what was causing you the trouble._

“That would be correct.  His name is Percy, and he’s my younger brother.  He started asking me about Mom, and I got upset about it.  I yelled at him and stormed off.”

_Ah yes, your mother is off limits territory.  Have the other campers been talking?  Do you need me to stomp some people into the ground for you?”_

That made me laugh, “No I can handle this on my own.  But apparently Luke told him of my mother’s past.  It just hit me the wrong way.  I’ll get around to telling him later, but just not right now.  Not when I have so many other things to worry about.”

_We’ll I won’t say any more.  Just sit back and enjoy the ride._

I relaxed and relished in the feeling of the wind blowing on my face, the smell of the sea and the strawberry fields.  What I would have given to tell Nyx to head toward the water and just let me jump in.  To let me feel the salty water on my skin.  But I resisted the urge, and just watched the landscape beneath me change as we soared around in a wide circle for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd


	5. Chapter 5

When I finally landed I let Nyx go to the stables to get fed a mixture of apples, hay, and sugar cubes.  I figured I wouldn’t change her back just yet, she was rarely in her true form and I felt bad for keeping her hidden in my floor.

Percy had apparently been watching for me and met me at the stables.  “Alex,” he started, but I held up a hand.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now.  In fact, I would really like to be left alone.”  I wouldn’t look at him.

“Alex, I’m sorry.”

My shoulders slumped, I knew he hadn’t meant to get angry at me, or snap at me like he had.  “Percy, my mother is one thing I do not like to talk about.  I wasn’t with Dad because I wanted to be, I was there to be groomed for a purpose.  The purpose of making sure this camp survives, and that nothing bad happens.  I wish I could tell you everything I know, but I am not allowed to interfere directly, and neither is Dad.  None of the gods are allowed to have direct contact with their children except on rare occasions.  Dad needs your help, and he claimed you because he loves you, but also because you’re his last hope.  He doesn’t want to fight with his brother, but you don’t know Zeus.”  I turned to face him then.  I could see the downtrodden look on his face.  “Trust me when I say Dad cares about you more than you will ever know.”  With that I moved past him and headed to find a place to hide for a few hours.

It was dinnertime when I finally decided to crawl out of my hiding spot and face the rest of the world.  Percy was already there moving his food around on his plate, not looking up at me.  Chiron made the announcements and dismissed us all.

On the walk back to our cabin Percy said, “I’m going to ask Chiron for the quest tomorrow.”

I was silent, “Then I’ll support you one hundred percent of the way.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground.  “Are we cool?”

I stopped and turned to him, he looked up at me those green eyes and even though I was still a little upset all of that sort of disappeared.  “Come on, there’s something I need to tell you.”  I sat down on our porch and began telling him my story, “When I was younger my mother abused drugs and alcohol.  She wouldn’t take proper care of me, and every time she would get better and something bad happened I got the blame.  She was doing better when we went to the beach, she was clean and had a new boyfriend.  I don’t remember too much, but I remembered liking him.  I went into the water, not very far, but enough to alert Dad that I was there.  He swept me under and I haven’t seen my mother since.”

“Alex, I’m so sorry.”

I wiped at a tear, “She’s married to the man she was dating.  His name is Charlie and they have a son that’s a few years older than you.  I’ve thought about nothing but going and seeing her, but she thinks I’m dead and I don’t know how I’d feel if I was with her face to face again.”

“You said Dad groomed you for a purpose, why?  Why did it have to be you?”

“Because I was never supposed to be born, I was a complete accident.  So because of that Apollo warned that what lies ahead could be put into danger and that there was a way to fix it.  If I became what I am today and help guide demigods and train them.”  _And to help guide you_ , I added silently.

“That’s a lot of pressure to put on one person, especially since you were younger.”

“It was, but I’ve learned to adapt to things, it’s not so bad anymore.  And now that you’re here I will gladly do my job if it means that I get to keep you safe.”  I ruffled his hair so that it became messy.  “Come on let’s get some rest, if all goes well with Chiron tomorrow you’ll be visiting the Oracle in the attic.”

“That sounded like the name of a cheesy kid’s book,” he said as I herded him inside.

I shrugged, “It did, but it’s true.  There’s an Oracle living in the attic.  She's a shriveled-up mummy, but she still spits out prophecies when people ask for them.”  He didn’t look too thrilled about that.  I patted his shoulder, “It’ll be fine as long.”  I didn’t mention the possibility about him going mad.  That had happened on a few occasions.  “Goodnight Percy.”

“Night Alex,” he climbed onto his bunk and passed out.

I stayed up a little longer and thought about how things were going to go from here.

 

The next day I led Percy up to the Big House so he could talk to Chiron.  Chiron, of course, was not thrilled with the idea of Percy going on this quest.  “I don’t know Percy, you need more training.  I can’t just send you out there not knowing what kind of challenges you will face.”  He glanced at me, knowing full well I had an idea.

“Chiron, we don’t have time,” he argued.  “I need to visit the Oracle and get a quest for her.  I can’t let the gods start a civil war with one another.”

“Let him do this Chiron, it’s the only way,” I cut in.

Chiron, seeing that he was outnumbered on this, sighed.  “All right, follow me.”  He looked at me, “Alex, stay here, we’ll be back.”

I nodded and took a seat on the couch.  Percy and Chiron disappeared and a few minutes later Grover appeared.  “Hey, where is everyone?”

“Percy went to see the Oracle,” I replied calmly.

Grover paled, “You let him go see the Oracle?!  He could go mad Alex.”

“I know that, but it had to be done, he needs a quest and in order to go on the quest he needs to see the Oracle.”  I stood up and rested my hands on his shoulders, “Everything is going to be okay Grover, trust me on this one.”

Grover reluctantly nodded, “How long has he been gone?”

“Just a few minutes.  He’ll probably be down anytime now.”  As if on cue I heard Chiron’s hooves and Percy’s feet heading our way.  Grover visibly relaxed when he saw that Percy was okay.  “How did it go?”

“Good I guess,” Percy said.  “Although I have no idea what anything meant.”

“You’ll start to understand it once you start your quest,” Chiron said.  “Now you just need to pick two other people to go with you.”

“You can’t choose me,” I said quickly.  “I’m not allowed to be one of the companions.”

Percy didn’t look too happy about that, “Grover, I want you to come with me.”

Chiron motioned for me to follow him while Percy and Grover shared a moment discussing the quest together.  We were outside when Chiron said, “A god has turned.”

I shook my head, “I knew it was coming, but I was just hoping that maybe it wouldn’t be true.” 

“Is there anything I should know before he heads out there?”  Chiron folded his arms across his chest.  “Should I be worried for his safety?”

“Not if I have anything to do with it,” I told him.  “I’ll be trailing him for a while.  It’s my job.  Don’t worry Chiron, I’ll make sure he comes back to Camp safely.”  I looked over at the door as it opened to reveal Percy and Grover.  They were smiling at one another and I relaxed.  He was in good hands with Grover, I didn’t care what the Council of the Cloven Elders thought about him.

Percy headed over to me and said, “Who should be the third person?”

“That’s completely up to you,” I told him.  “But if it were me, I would take Annabeth.  She’s been training for years now, and I trust her with my life.”

He nodded, “She has been trying to get me to get a quest.  I’m going to go find her.  When are we leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning.  Pack your things and be prepared to leave around nine,” Chiron told him.

 

In the morning I walked with Percy to Half-Blood Hill where Annabeth, Grover, and Chiron were all waiting for him.  I had my arm wrapped around his shoulder and I gave him a reassuring squeeze.  “You’re gonna do great out there.”

He looked like he was going to throw up, “I don’t know Alex, I mean this is my first time out of Camp knowing what I was and what could possibly come after me.  And let’s face it I’m not the best person for this job, I haven’t trained as much like someone like Annabeth has.”

I stopped and turned toward him, “Perseus Jackson, I have complete faith that you will do well.  That you will succeed in your mission and that things will be better when you get back.”

He nodded his head slowly, “All right, well I guess this is goodbye.”  He reached up and wrapped his arms around me.  I squeezed him back tightly.

“Come back in one piece okay?”

He laughed, “I’ll try my hardest.”

“Hey, Percy!”  Both of us turned to see Luke running up the hill toward us.  “Wait!”

I turned to Percy and said, “I’ll give you some privacy.”  I headed over to Chiron and the others.  “Luke caught up to him, he should be along in a minute.”

Annabeth was staring dreamily at Luke, and I had to fight the urge to throw up.  Knowing that Luke was going to become bad, and try to destroy the camp made it impossible for me to treat him nicely sometimes.  Especially when he flashed that easy going smile and had all the girls swooning over him.

I put a hand on Annabeth’s shoulder making her jump, “Oh, hey Alex.”

“Hello to you too.  Are you excited?  I know how long you’ve been waiting to get a quest to get out of her.”  Annabeth had made it no secret to anyone that she wanted a quest and she wanted one badly.  Getting to come along on Percy’s was like a dream come true.

“It feels great to finally be able to leave Camp,” she said.  “I’m just hoping we succeed.”

I ruffled her hair, “I’m sure you will, in the meantime I’ll be cheering you on.”

“Thanks, Alex,” she smiled at me and headed for the van where Argus was waiting for everyone.  Grover said a quick goodbye to me and then left.

Percy walked over to Chiron and I after he had finished talking to Luke.  He was carrying a box with what I could only assume were enchanted Converse that could fly.  Chiron smiled at Percy, “There’s something that I would like to give you before go.”  He dug into his pocket and pulled out a bronze pen. 

Riptide.

“This is the pen you gave me that day at the museum, the one that turned into a sword,” I could see the recognition as he remembered the day a Fury had attacked him, and then he killed her with that very sword.

“It is, your father gave it to me for safe keeping, he wanted you to have it.  It’s enchanted so that you’ll never lose it.  Go ahead and toss it.”

He handed the pen over and Percy stared at it as if he were unsure whether he should trust Chiron or not.  In the end he chucked it down the hill and it landed in the grass.  A moment later Percy dug around in his pocket and pulled the pen out.  “Cool,” his eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas.

“Use it well.  I’ll give the two of you some privacy.  Be safe Percy.”  Chiron began heading back toward Camp.

I turned to my brother, “Don’t do anything stupid, and for the love of the gods please don’t die on me.  I just found you, I don’t want to be left alone in that cabin again.”  I pulled him in for a hug and kissed the top of his head. 

“I’ll miss you too Alex, it’s gonna be weird not having you around all the time, telling me what to do in that bossy tone.”

I shoved him, “I am no bossy!”

He laughed, “You are too!  ‘Percy pick up that trash!’  ‘Percy that’s not how you hold a sword.’  ‘Percy go clean the stables.’  So bossy.”

I play hit him on the arm, “Whatever bro.”  Argus honked the horn, probably because Annabeth was getting impatient.  I could see her glaring at us from the back window of the van.  “Go, we’ll see one another soon.”

He waved to me as he jogged down the hill and got into the van with the others.  He looked back once and gave me a reassuring thumbs up.  There was a tightness in my chest.  He was going to be all right, I was going to make damn sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd  
> *Kevin Hart voice* It's about to go down.


	6. Chapter 6

I walked into the Big House after the van had pulled away and made my way to the living room where Chiron was waiting for me.  He was deep in thought when I approached, “Are you sure you should do this Alex?”  His eyes met mine and I nodded.

“I have to follow them, I have to make sure that he follows the right path.”  I walked over to a mirror hanging on the water.  I changed my appearance so that I had red hair and blue eyes, and I was fairer than normal.  It was a gift that Aphrodite had given me.  I looked at Chiron in the mirror, “If anything happens call me, I’ll come back right away.  If not I’ll be back once the quest is over.”

I left the Big House, heading for my own personal car that I used on very rare occasions.  I mainly used it when the camp needed supplies.  It was a rust bucket of a car, and I had no idea what it was, but I loved the thing.  It had been on the property when I had arrived, and as I got older some of the Hephaestus kids and I tinkered with it.

We were proud of the work that we had done.

I drove into the city, keeping a healthy distance from the van, just in case Grover or Annabeth happened to see the car.  I doubted that they would know it was me, but I wanted to be safer than sorry.

Argus pulled into a bus terminal and dropped them off before turning and heading back to Camp.  I parked my car and followed them in, purchasing a ticket on their bus.  I sat some distance from them.  I could see Grover’s leg bouncing up and down nervously, and Annabeth was looking around always alert for danger.

Percy was just sitting there like it was another day.  I could tell underneath that careful façade that he was scared out of his mind, but he didn’t want to let the others know his true feelings.

After a while they called for our bus to be boarded.  I got on after them, and as I passed I felt Grover’s eyes on me.  I quickly glanced over and saw he was looking at me strangely, as if he felt like he knew me.  I looked away and took a seat a few rows behind them.

Everything seemed to be going fine until three old women got on the bus.  I froze, instantly recognizing them.

All three Furies were currently on the bus.

I glanced over at Percy and saw him stiffen in his seat.  Grover was nervously chewing on a can.  One of them looked at me and grinned, knowing instantly who I was and why I was here.  I tried to keep my cool, but it was hard.

The bus pulled out of the station and we began traveling down the highway.  I fiddled with the bag I had been carrying.  The three Furies were sitting in their seats calmly, one of them grinning wickedly.  They were going to do something and soon.  I couldn’t believe that they would send the Furies to attack Percy and the others on a public bus like this, there were humans around.

One got up claiming that she needed to use the bathroom right as we made our way toward a tunnel.  I looked for Percy, but he was missing.  It dawned on me that he was using Annabeth’s hat.  I glanced back at the three Furies and they started making their way back right before we were plunged into semi-darkness.

The lights on the walls of tunnel cast an eerie glow in the bus.  They were about to reach the row with Annabeth and Grover when I stood up, “Percy!  Hit the break!”  The three furies whipped their heads to me, each of them glaring.  One of them looking to where Percy had now removed the hat and was staring at me wide-eyed.  “Do it!”  I screamed as I pulled out my own sword that doubled as a bracelet.

“You can not interfere girl,” the middle one growled.

I twirled the sword knowing what was about to happen, “I can and I will.”

“Then you are fair game.”

“Bring it,” I lunged at her just as Percy pressed the emergency break sending us skidding to a halt.  The Furies and I were thrown off balance, but I recovered quicker.

I was facing down one while Annabeth and Percy were facing off against the others.  “You know the rules, gods cannot interfere with the affairs of mortals.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not technically a god,” I swung at her causing her to leap out of the way.  I kept coming at her, people on the bus screaming out in terror.  The poor bus driver was ushering everyone off the bus as quickly and safely as he could.

I managed to catch the Fury unaware and my sword sliced through her turning her into dust and sending her back to the Underworld.  I turned to see that everyone was now off and that Percy and Annabeth had taken care of the other two.

Percy rushed over to me and wrapped his arms around me, “Alex what are you doing here?”

“No time to explain, we need to get off this bus right now.  Go!”  I started shoving the three of them off the bus and as our feet hit the pavement the bus exploded.  I shielded them the best I could.  In the distance I heard the sirens of police cars coming this way.  “We need to go, the cops can’t find us.  Into the woods.”

People were staring and taking pictures of us, they were probably going to be interviewed by the press now that my brother had popped back up onto the grid.  I had been hoping to avoid that, but I should have known they would eventually catch him on camera.

We ran through the woods as quickly as we could go, each one of us breathing heavily, our energy heavily depleted after that fight with the Furies.  We finally came to a halt and rested up against some trees, sucking in lungsful of air.

Annabeth turned to me, “What in Hades’s name are you doing here?  We left you back at Camp!”

I kept breathing in air, trying to regain some of my composure before answering.  “You did, but I followed you.  And yes Chiron knows.  I’m just here as a guide of sorts, I can’t help you out, and what I did back there was a huge no-no, but it had to be done.  Basically I’m here to make sure you guys don’t get yourselves killed.”

“Do you not think we could handle this?”  Percy asked with a frown.

“It’s not that I underestimate your ability, but this is my job, my purpose.  I’ve been waiting for you to arrive so that I could be your mentor of sorts.”  I ran a hand through my hair.  “I’m going to get yelled at for the stunt I pulled back there, but I made a judgment call.”

“Won’t this attract more monsters?”  Grover asked nervously.  “Alex, you’re a daughter of Poseidon, you and Percy together must be like one big homing beacon to the monsters out there.”

I waved a hand, “I have a different smell now, it won’t attract more monsters.  Only the ones that pick up Percy’s and Annabeth’s scents will come for us.”  Overhead storm clouds were growing angrier.  “Come on let’s find some shelter before it starts to rain on us.”

We found a road and headed in what we assumed was the correct direction.  I nudged them along leading them to a little garden shop that also doubled as a restaurant.  I hated leading them here, knowing who resided in this particular spot, but it had to be done.  Percy was going to need her head later.

We walked into Auntie Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium and a woman appeared out of the back wearing a scarf around her head and sunglasses on her eyes.  She paused when she noticed me, but then smiled at my brother and the others.  “Oh what precious young faces are you lost?”

“Yes,” Annabeth said.  “And we’re so hungry, but we have no money to pay you with.”

“Our parents are probably looking for us,” Percy said.  “They can pay you when they arrive.”

“Come, come,” she ushered us into the dining area, it was vacant except for the four of us.  “Auntie Em will fix you all something to eat.  Just sit here and relax okay?”

The others nodded.  Percy and Grover talking about how glad they were that we found this place.  Annabeth was eyeing me though.  She leaned over and whispered, “Something’s going to happen isn’t it?”

“I can’t say Annabeth,” but she could tell by the look on my face that we needed to be careful.

Auntie Em came back a moment later with plates laden with fries and a cheeseburger.  She even had sodas and a milkshake.  We all dug in, Auntie Em started asking the others questions, not even bothering to address me.  She knew who I was and why I was here.

Once we had finished eating I said, “I’m going to go outside and make a call, I’ll be back.”  I killed me to stand up from the table and force my way to the door, but I had no other choice.  If I witnessed what was about to happen I would end up fighting Medusa myself like I had with the Furies back on the bus.

After what felt like forever Percy, Annabeth, and Grover came stumbling out of the shop.  I was relieved to see that they had survived.

“A little heads up next time,” Grover grumbled.

“Sorry,” I murmured to him.

Percy didn’t say anything, he looked a little haunted about what had happened.  I knew he had sent the head to the gods on Olympus, and when the time was right they were going to send it back to him.  He would give it to his mom and tell her what it was and what it could do.  From there she would use it to turn Gabe into a statue much like the ones Medusa had at the back of her store.  

Thunder rumbled in the distance and I started ushering everyone into the woods where it would be less likely that we would be spotted, “It’s going to storm soon, let’s get some shelter and sleep for a while.  I’ll even take first watch.”

We found a spot that would hopefully shield us from any oncoming weather, but we’d still get a little wet if it rained.  I built a fire and we all huddled near it for warmth.  Annabeth and Grover curled up to sleep, but Percy stayed sitting.

“Not tired?”  I asked him after a few minutes of silence.

He shrugged, “Just thinking back to what happened there.  Those mortals could have gotten hurt because of us.”

“I wouldn’t have let that happened,” I said.  “Plus the Kindly Ones weren’t after the humans, they barely even gave them a second look.  They were only after you.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m kind of glad you’re here, at least now I don’t feel so alone.”

I gripped his shoulder, “You’ll be all right, you’ll see.  Now get some rest before tomorrow.  You’ve got a long journey ahead of you.

 

In the morning I found that Grover had found a dog that told him he was lost.  Grover didn’t really want to return the poor thing to its owners, but we needed the money to help us get farther west.  Of course I was paying my own way, so the others needed the money.

Percy had questioned this, “But if you have the funds to get us where we need to go then why aren’t we going to use them?”

“Because technically I’m not supposed to offer you that sort of help, you guys have to figure out your own way there, I’m just here to nudge you along.”

“And paying for our tickets isn’t a nudge?”

“Look you weren’t even supposed to know I was here, so technically you all would have been on your own in the first place, I’m not here to make life easier.  Do you think Hercules had his big sister standing over him helping him with his quests?  No.  He learned something from his journey, and so are you.”  And that was the end of the discussion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd


	7. Chapter 7

The train ride took us as far as St. Louis before we had to stop for a few hours.  Annabeth was actually pretty excited about that.  She had always wanted to see the arch that had been constructed here.  I took them there, but when they went to go up I stayed below.  They would have to deal with what was about to happen.

Grover and Annabeth came back without Percy, Annabeth gushing over the architectural wonder she had just been on and seen in person instead of a picture.  Percy was still on the observation deck they told me, there hadn’t been enough room for them all to come down together.

I watched and waited for the explosion and when it came I cringed.  Annabeth and Grover whirled around, “What happened?”

“He was attacked, come on we need to find him before the police get here, they’re going to think he’s a terrorist now.”  I pulled them along searching the banks of the river looking for any signs of him.

Grover was looking nervously, “He wouldn’t have survived a fall from that height Alex, it’s just not possible.  That is if he even survived that explosion that happened.”

I scanned the murky water, waiting for signs of life.  Then I saw his head pop out of the water and saw him swim toward the bank.  I pulled him up, checking him over for any major injuries.  “You okay?”

He nodded and met my gaze, “Yeah I’m fine, but how?”

“You’re a son of Poseidon, the water won’t hurt you.  Come on we need to go before the cops get here.”  I started leading them through the streets keeping them safe when it was needed. 

We made it back to the train and made it out of St. Louis safely.  The train ride was quiet for the most part.  Percy had fallen asleep on my shoulder and Annabeth and Grover were leaning against one another as they slept.  I watched over the three of them silently, praying that this next leg of the journey would be much simpler than the first leg had been, but I knew it was going to be as equally hard as the others.

We stopped at Denver and got off, that was as far as we could go.  “Come on guys, there’s a diner this way.”  I led them down the darkening streets toward a little burger joint where we would be able to get food.  I had offered to buy, but if my calculations were correct we were going to have a bigger issue in a minute.

As if on queue Ares pulled into the diner, his motorcycle loud and obnoxious.  I rolled my eyes at him and turned back to my burger as he entered.  The diner seemed to quiet at his entrance as if knowing not to mess with this man, he exuded a sense of anger, wanting people to get into a fight. 

“Ares what a surprise,” I forced out as he approached our table.  “What brings you to this humble little quest?”

“I come bearing a gift Alexandra Worthington.”  I bristled at the use of my full name, I shot him a glare.  He knew I hated it and that’s why he used it, he was trying to get a rise out of me.

Percy sensed my unease and glared at the god of war and without an ounce of fear said, “We don’t want your help.”

“Percy!”  Annabeth scolded.

Ares held up a hand, never taking his eyes off of Percy.  “You have guts kid, not many people would look me in the eye and tell me to piss off.  I’m in a good mood so I’ll let your rudeness roll right off my back, but don’t think you can just talk back to a god without consequences.”

“Just tell us what you want,” I said.

“I’m not here for you Worthington, you’re just a tag along.  My deal goes for these three right here,” he pointed at Percy, Annabeth, and Grover.  “I need you to get me my shield back, and I can get you transportation west.”  He turned and pointed to a big truck, “That can take you to Vegas, and if you hurry I can get you on it.”  He looked at Percy grinned, “And I can tell you a little something about your dear mommy.”

The three of them shared a look, Percy looked like he wanted to ask what Ares knew about his mom, but settled for, “Where’s the shield?”

“It’s at a waterpark not too far from here, it’s closed right now obviously.  Just go get my shield back and I’ll help you.  Easy peasy.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, “Take the deal.”

Percy looked at me, “We don’t need this jerk’s help.”

I looked at my brother, “Take the deal.”

He frowned, “Fine, we accept.”

Ares grinned, “Excellent, I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back.”  Percy and the others started out the door, but Ares stopped me.  “Why don’t you stay here with me Worthington?  Catch up.”

Percy looked back, “Alex?”

“Go ahead, I’ll be waiting for you,” I promised him.  They left and I took my seat again.  “What did you want to talk about Ares?”

“Zeus isn’t happy that you came along on the quest,” he said.  “Dad’s been fit to be tied over this.”

I frowned, “I don’t interfere that much and when I do I make sure it’s little things.  Granted the bus incident, but that was an emergency.”  I leaned forward not breaking eye contact with him, “Do you want me to tell your dad what I know about you?”

Threatening Ares wasn’t the smartest idea, but he knew I wasn’t bluffing about this.  He sneered at me, “You think you’re something special don’t you Worthington?  You own that camp, and here you are on the quest with your brother.  So powerful.  Mark my words girl, one-day things aren’t going to go the way you hoped they would.”

I leaned back in my seat and shrugged, “I know this, I’m not a complete fool.  Immortality hasn’t blinded me, Ares, unlike you who sits on Olympus screwing the minor goddesses and starting your wars.  I see what really goes on down here.  I’ve been training your kids--”  He slammed his hands down onto the table top and the diner grew quiet.  “Did I hit a nerve?”

“One day Worthington you won’t be immortal anymore, and I’ll be able to pound you into the ground and send you to Uncle Hades.  We all know he favors you, he’ll treat you nice, and I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing I sent you there.”

“And I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing my father ripped you to pieces for touching me.  Don’t forget that my father is very protective of me Ares, just because I won’t be immortal one day doesn’t mean I still won’t have protection, and I can still lord what I have over you.”

He went to say something when the door opened and Percy, Annabeth, and Grover walked back into the diner.  They looked a little worse for wear, but they give the shield back.  “Tell me what you know about my mom and get us on that ride,” Percy groundout.

Ares smiled, “Your mom’s not dead, she’s just being held hostage.  If you hurry you may be able to get her back alive.  And just walk over and get on, no one will notice you.”  Ares stood and threw some bills onto the table, the tip was missing.

Once he had gone I put some money down for the waitress for all the trouble that Ares had caused while we were here.  We exited the diner quickly because the drivers of the truck were getting ready to leave.

The truck was dark and smelled awful. Percy pulled Riptide out and uncapped it, in the soft glow of the sword we saw animals in cages.  My heart broke and Grover looked especially distraught by the sight.  I put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.  “This is… horrible,” he said at last as he walked over to the cage with a zebra in it.

“It is, but there’s nothing we can do right now.  We need to make it to Vegas, we’ll figure out what to do once we’re there.”  I took a seat next to a cage filled with birds and leaned my head back against the side of the truck.

Percy took a seat next to me, “Want to talk about what Ares said to you?”

I chewed my lip, _It’s hard for me….._ I spoke through my mind not really wanting to say the things out loud.

Percy jumped, “Whoa did you just…?”

I held up a hand, _Say it in your mind, I can hear you that way.  Trust me._

_Can you do this with everyone?_

_Probably,_ I responded.  _I’ve never really tried or have needed too, but I just wanted some privacy.  What I have to say isn’t easy for me to talk about.  My mom’s name is Maria Worthington Allister.  Allister is Charlie’s last name.  You remember me telling you about him right?_ He nodded.  _I don’t go by Alexandra Worthington anymore because of the memories, and Ares knows this.  He used my name to poke me, and when we spoke he said one day when I wasn’t immortal anymore he was going to kill me._

_I won’t let him do that._

I smiled at the intensity in his voice.  _I’m afraid that that’s not going to be your call, but Dad won’t let anything happen to me, and I have somethings I can lord over Ares so that he won’t hurt me.  I’ll be fine, it’s just that I let him get under my skin and I shouldn’t have._

_I’m sorry Alex._

_It’s okay, it’s over and now we’re continuing the quest.  Get some rest, this will probably be one of the only times we can get uninterrupted sleep for a while._

He closed his eyes and slowly drifted off.  I looked up to see Annabeth had curled up near the lion cage and that Grover was still talking to some of the animals.  It was the last thing I saw before I was fast asleep as well. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd


	8. Chapter 8

 We made it to Las Vegas without anything happening.  Once we arrived, however, we did create quite the scene.  Grover talked to some of the animals and they promised to cause a distraction if we let them go.  I unsheathed my sword and began breaking the locks and chains holding the cages together.  The lion stepped out of the cage and wound its way around my legs.

_Thank you, my Lady,_ the lion’s voice rumbled in my head. 

I nodded and ran my hand down his back. I looked to the others.  “Stay out of sight until the men are distracted by the animals.  Once they're clear we can get off and figure out a way to get to California.”  We were so close now, but I knew there were still some things that needed to be done before we could get to Hades’s palace in the Underworld.

We hid behind the cages, all the animals waiting anxiously as the truck came to a stop.  I could hear the two men talking to each other as they came around to unlock the back of the truck.  The door opened and we were momentarily blinded by the sunlight streaming in.  Then there was pure chaos.

The animals all began to rush for the open door of the truck.  The two men let out alarmed yelps and the people on the street began to scream as they noticed the wild animals bounding their way.  The men in charge of the animals began shouting and chasing them down with their tools.  They would need back up if they were to catch every last one of them.

“Come on,” I motioned for the others to follow me as we got off the truck.

The streets were still in chaos as we made our way down the strip.  Cars were screeching to a halt, people were screaming, and in the distance I could hear police sirens.  “Where do we go from here?”  Annabeth asked as she looked around.  We were about the only people out that were not worried about the wild animals.

“We need to find a place to lay low as we figure out a plan,” Percy said.  “Maybe rest up a bit, take a shower….”  I knew he was thinking about how he smelled like the animals and the truck.

That was when we came upon the Lotus Hotel and Casino.  Percy, Annabeth, and Grover stopped, staring up at it in wonder.  “Whoa,” Grover said.

“Come in, come in,” said a man in a hotel uniform.  It was green and there was a little lotus embroidered on the right side of his jacket.  “We have a food and a place for you to sleep.”  The man looked at me and glared, he knew I wasn’t going to be as easily fooled as the others.

Percy looked back at me, “Come on Alex, let’s get some rest.”

“You guys go on in, I’ll join you later.  I have business that I need to take care of while I’m here.”  I turned and walked back down the street to one of the other hotels in the area.  Once I locked myself away in my room I called Dad.  “They’re in the Lotus Hotel.”

“What?!  Alex, how could you let this happen?  You’re supposed to be watching over him, and making sure he completes his mission,” I could hear the stress in his voice.  Things on Olympus were getting worse.

“This is how it has to be Dad.  Trust me, I don’t like this either, but we have to follow a set path.  I can’t interfere until it’s time.  In a few days I’ll make contact and get them out of there.  Just don’t worry, I know what needs to be done.”

He sighed, “I really hope you’re right Alex.”

“I’m always right,” I said in a teasing tone.

He chuckled, “Good luck.”

We got off the phone and I stared out the window.  I could see the hotel from here.  I would give them the few days that they needed to be in there and then if I couldn’t get them out I would go in myself and hope that the temptation didn’t get to me.

The Lotus Eaters were notorious for fulfilling your wildest dreams, and even I wasn’t completely immune to their ways.  One step inside and it could be game over for me, but I liked to think that I was stronger than that.

 

Lounging around the hotel was boring.  There wasn’t much I could do, and since I wasn’t technically legal I could gamble or drink.  I watched TV and read some books that I found at a bookstore.  I did do some touristy things, but my heart just wasn’t in it.

It didn’t seem right to do the touristy things when my brother and friends were trapped in the Lotus Hotel, and while we were on a quest.  I shouldn’t be having fun, I should be miserable.

When the time was right I stood out in front of the hotel and stared up at it.  Several of the workers shot looks my way, they didn’t like how I was just standing there.

_Percy,_ I whispered into his mind.  I could sense him and the others.  They were safe and they were happy, but I had to break that spell on them.  _Percy, it’s me.  Can you hear me?_

There was no reply for several long minutes.  _Alex?_ He sounded like he was in a daze, as if he had just woken up and was confused by what was going on around him.  _Alex, where are you?_

_I’m outside the hotel.  You all have been in there for a few days.  Can you get Annabeth and Grover and meet me in front of the hotel.  We need to go._

_What day is it?_

_June twentieth, you only have a day before you’re supposed to be back in New York to return the Bolt._

I could feel his panic now.  He was rushing around looking for Annabeth and Grover.  There was a scuffle going on right now as the three of them tried to escape.  After several minutes they came running out of the hotel with several of the workers chasing after them.  I threw up a hand and an invisible barrier stopped them.

The workers began cussing at me in Ancient Greek, so I gave them the middle finger and smirked.  “We need to go.”  I hailed a cab and we all got in.  I was unfortunately upfront with the driver.  “We need to get to Los Angeles—”

“No!”  Percy said.  “We need to go to Santa Monica beach first.”  I raised an eyebrow at him.  “Trust me,” he pleaded.

“All right, take us to Santa Monica beach,” I told the cab driver.  Then I looked back at Percy, “Mind telling me why we’re taking a detour to Santa Monica?” 

“I need to get something from Dad there,” he said.  “We need it if we’re going to get out of you know where.”  He glanced nervously at the cab driver, worried about what to say around the mortal.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s hearing a normal conversation between us all right now.  We can speak freely.”

The three of them relaxed.  “What about that dream you had?”  Annabeth asked him.  “It was saying something wanted two items?”

I looked over at my brother wide-eyed, “Percy what dream is she talking about?”

“I had it when we were on the way to Vegas,” he said.  “I just didn’t mention it at the time because of everything that happened.  But there was this voice.  It was cold, that’s the only way I could describe it, but the voice wants the bolt and something else,” he informed me.

I clenched my fists together.  “This isn’t good,” I muttered to myself.

“What?”  Grover asked nervously.  “What isn’t good?  What aren’t you telling us, Alex.”

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, “That I can’t reveal, not yet anyone.  But let’s pray that I’m wrong.”

The three of them exchanged looks and we fell into silence.  The Great Prophecy was slowly unfolding before my eyes and my brother was caught in the middle of it, he would be the child that would face down Kronos himself.  That also meant that when we returned to Camp that Luke would betray him.

I turned and stared out the window of the cab as the scenery passed up by.  It seemed like just a short time later when we arrived at the beach.  We paid the cabbie with the card that Percy and they had gotten from the hotel and then got out.

The smell of the sea instantly revitalized me.  I missed being near it all the time back at Camp, and this was my first time visiting the Pacific Ocean.  But it still felt the same, no matter what coast I was on.  It felt like home.

I longed to run and leap into the waves crashing against the beach, but I held back.  I looked at Percy, “Be quick.”  He nodded and headed toward the water.  He walked in slowly, letting the water envelop him until he was no longer visible.  He would be safe in Father’s domain.

Annabeth and Grover turned to me, “What’s going on?  Who was the voice in Percy’s dream?  You turned pale.”  Nothing would ever get past Annabeth, she was too bright for her own good sometimes.

“Annabeth the prophecy,” I said with a pained voice.  “Think.”

Annabeth sucked in a breath, “No….”

I nodded solemnly, “It’s beginning.  And if all goes according to plan Percy will be the child of the prophecy.”  I looked at the both of them.  “Swear on the River Styx that you won’t breathe a word of this to him.  He cannot know what’s going to happen.  He can’t know about the prophecy, not until the time is right.”

“We swear on the River Styx,” they said, and thunder rumbled above our heads.  I nodded my head satisfied, there would be great consequences if they broke their promise.

We all stood there stoically waiting for Percy to return after that.  Silent sentinels waiting for him.  I scanned the water looking and feeling for any signs of danger or distress, but there was nothing.  Then his head broke the surface and he hurried over to us.

He held out his hand and showed us three pearls, “These will help us get out of the Underworld.”  He looked up at me, “I’m sorry she only had three.”

I waved a hand dismissively, “Remember I don’t play by the same rules the three of you do.  Uncle Hades and I are close.  I’m about the only one in the family he can stomach for more than thirty minutes.  I think it was because I used to bring him cookies on the Solstice.”  I shrugged, “Whatever the reason I don’t need a pearl, use them for yourselves.”

He nodded and then said, “Where too now?”

“DOA Recording Studios,” I announced.  “That’s the entrance to the Underworld.”  I motioned for them to follow me.  “It’s this way.”  We began to walk the streets, I avoided one area where they would have discovered the entrance to the Underworld if they hadn’t been with me.

But truth be told I didn’t feel like dealing with Crusty tonight, and I didn’t have the patience to stand out on the street and wait for my brother to defeat him.  It was much easier to just skip over him altogether.  It wouldn’t change how things went down anyway.

We rounded the corner of one building and there standing out amongst the dimly lit buildings stood DOA Recording Studios.  “So this it the entrance to the Underworld,” Annabeth said as she stared up at it.  “A little flashier than I would have thought.”

She was right, in ancient times there was nothing this flashy announcing the entrance to the Underworld.  Hades tried to hide it as much as possible.  So imagine my shock when he had told me about this place.  Seeing the neon lights and the building in person was a little shocking.  Hades had gained a lot more pizazz over the years apparently.

We pushed open the door and found that the reception area was crowded with people waiting to be admitted into the Underworld.  In front of us was the reception desk.  Charon sat there wearing a fine Italian suit that probably cost more than most people made in a day, and an earring.

I walked up to the desk, “Loving the new look Charon.  Italian suits, what happened to those stylish ripped jeans and band t-shirts you were rocking back in the day?”

He looked up at me, the dark glass of his sunglasses blocking his eyes.  He arched an eyebrow, “Alexandra,” I didn’t mind it so much when Charon used my full first name, he just had a thing against shortening names.  “Here to see your uncle?”

I flashed him a grin, “Yep and I found some stragglers outside as I was heading in.”  I crooked a finger toward Percy, Annabeth, and Grover.  “Thought I’d bring them in with me.”

Charon arched an eyebrow at them, “All three of you are dead?”

Percy nodded, “Yep.”

“How did you die?”  Charon sniffed.

“We were in a bathtub,” Percy said nervously.  Charon didn’t look like he believed him, “It was a really big bathtub.

I wanted to smack myself in the face.  “They have payment, I checked before.  Shiny, new drachmas.  Help you pay for those new suits you seem to be rocking these days.  I imagine they can’t be cheap.”

“They aren’t,” he sniffed.  “And I don’t make enough to afford them all.”

I shook my head and made tisking noises,  “I’ll talk to Hades for you, see what I can do.”

“You’re an angel Alexandra.”  He stood up and made his way toward the doors.  “All right if you want into the Underworld come along.”  Percy, Annabeth, and Grover scrambled after Charon and I.  We stepped into the elevator, each of us handing him our payment for the trip.  “Next stop, the Underworld.”  The doors to the elevator slid shut and we began our descent down.


	9. Chapter 9

The elevator dinged and the Underworld loomed before us.  It was dark and depressing.  There really no other way to describe it.  The Underworld was like one giant cave that was divided into sections.  The Fields of Asphodel where the souls of those who didn’t really do anything particularly good or bad went.  Then there was Elysium where all the heroes and saints went, within there was the Isle of the Blessed.  You could only go to the Isle if you had been reborn three times prior to that and been a hero or a saint in every life.  Then there were the Fields of Punishment.  I could hear the souls of the damned in the distant screaming as they did their punishment.

Then there was one last section.  A place truly horrible that no one dared go.  Only the worst of the worst were sent there.  It was currently where some of the Titans resided as punishment for the war against the gods.

Tartarus.

Even thinking about that place sent a shiver down my spine.  Thinking that Kronos was waking and sentient freaked me out more than I could say.  I knew the death and destruction he was bringing with him, and I wanted more than anything to keep him there.

“This is your final stop,” Charon announced.  “Just go to the lines and you’ll be judged and placed for your final resting place.  Good luck, and Alex don’t forget to talk to your uncle for me.”

“Of course,” I promised as I stepped out of the elevator.  I waited for the elevator doors to close before turning to the others.  “This is where I leave you.  Nothing _should_ be able to hurt you here.  I’m going to go try and butter Uncle Hades up before your arrival.  Good luck.”  With that I disappeared from sight to let them carry out the quest from here.

I arrived at the palace.  It was carved the cavern rocks itself, looming imperiously over everyone that dared approach.  I always thought it was pretty in an odd sort of way.  The walls looked like they were made out of onyx, you could catch a glimpse of Persephone’s garden if you stood in just the right spot.  Hades had had it put in to try and bring his wife some sort of happiness while she was down here for six months of the year.

To be fair the Underworld could be a bit depressing.

I walked up the steps to the set of double doors and shoved them open.  They made no noise as they glided open.  Hades made sure that his palace was well maintained.  They closed behind me as I walked down the silent hallways.  You couldn’t hear the activity of the Underworld from inside the palace.  Hades had it designed that way so that he wouldn’t constantly be hounded by the screams of the damned.

I heard several barks and a few large hellhounds came rushing toward me.  I smiled and petted them.  These were tame compared to the one that had attacked Percy back at Camp.  “Take me to your master,” I whispered to them.

They loped off down the hall and I followed along behind them.  Unsurprisingly he was sitting on his onyx throne in the Underworld.  He had skulls carved into it and trapped behind the dark shine of the throne were souls of the damned whose punishment was to stay beside the King of the Dead, to be seen but never heard from again.

Uncle Hades sat on top of his throne with his head resting on his fist.  He looked bored out of his mind.  He usually was when Persephone was away from the summer.  His feisty wife was a source of entertainment and constant companionship for him.  Despite what others thought they actually had a good marriage.

They were more like friends, Persephone was prone to fits of jealousy if she caught him looking at another woman, but so was he when she was looking at another man.  Their marriage was an odd arrangement yes, but it worked.

“Cheer up Uncle, you have guests coming.  It’s time to be your usual charming self,” I said with a smile.

He arched an eyebrow at me, “Charming, eh?  What charm?  After living here for a few thousand years I think my charm died right along with the souls that come to inhabit my kingdom.”  He wasn’t wrong, he had never been very good at charming those around him.  It was one of the reasons why he was so misunderstood.

“Such a Debby downer, Uncle.  Is it because you’re missing a certain someone?”  I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

He rolled his eyes, “No between her, souls begging me to spare them from a horrible fate, and Charon always asking for a raise so he can fund his fashion whims I am in need of a vacation.  A little sun would do me some good.”

I chuckled, “Uncle you are paler than a ghost, if you set foot in the sun you would burn.  I wouldn’t be surprised if you burst into flames like vampires from the old movies, the ones before everyone was obsessed with the sparkly ones.”

Hades huffed, “I see you’re in a rather rare mood, tell me what has you in such high spirits.”

“My brother.”  That got him to sit up.  “He’s on his way here with two of his friends.  I do believe you have his mother.”

Hades waved a hand and a woman appeared.  She was beautiful, with curly brown hair and wise eyes.  I could see why Father had fallen for her.  “What?  Who are you?  Why do you look like my son?”

Before I could answer Hades waved his hand and she disappeared.  “It wasn’t my fault she got caught in the crosshairs.  Your brother has what I want.”

“Really?  Are we still obsessed with this petty feud?”  I rested my hands on my hips.

“It is not some petty feud, he trapped me here!”  Hades shouted.  I did not flinch away from him and his little temper tantrum.  “I could have been ruling Olympus, Persephone would never have been separated from her family….”

“She may never have been born,” I pointed out.  “And you could very well be married to Hera right now.”  That made him shudder.  “Just play along will you?  I need things to go according to plan.  He doesn’t know he has the bolt on him.”

“Why should I do this?”  He asked cautiously.

I shrugged, “Just consider it a favor for me.  Trust me, if all works out your luck may change.”

Hades narrowed his eyes at me, “I swear sometimes you’re more cryptic that us gods are.”

“I learned from the best,” I answered.

A fury appeared at the top of the throne, she sneered at me and I gave her a jaunty little wave.  Hades paid no attention to the hiss she shot my way.  “They’re almost here my Lord.”

“Thank you, escort them here,” he told her.

I walked over and took a seat at my uncle’s feet.  “Remember to play along Uncle.”

“Yes, yes, I will.”  Then the door opened and Percy, Annabeth, and Grover stepped into the room.  They looked a little disheveled, and I knew the shoes that Luke had given Percy had almost dragged Grover into Tartarus.  I felt a little guilty about not warning them about the shoes.

“Uncle,” Percy said boldly.  His eyes flickered to me before turning back to the god before him.  “I have two requests for you.”

I could feel the power radiating off of Hades in waves.  “Oh?  Aren’t you presumptuous?  You come to my domain and demand two favors from the Lord of the Dead.  Your sister didn’t mention that you had no manners.”

I snorted, “He’s been through a lot Uncle, and after dealing with that jerkoff Ares, I’m not entirely surprised he’s acting this way.”

“Still,” Hades said.  “It is incredibly rude to walk into someone else’s home and demand something from that person.”

“Let him speak, just see what he wants.”  I looked at my brother, “Go on.”

Percy looked from me to Hades and back again.  He couldn’t quite understand how I was lounging so casually at the feet of our uncle like this.  But I knew Hades, and I wasn’t scared of him.  Percy cleared his throat and said, “The first is I want the Master Bolt back.”

That made Hades laugh outright, “And what makes you think I have it oh dear nephew?”

“Uncle,” I said in a warning tone.  “Don’t be patronizing.”

“Silence girl, this is between me and your brother.”  I rolled my eyes unbothered by the scolding.  “Tell me, what made you automatically assume that I was the god that had taken the Master Bolt?”  Percy and the others looked between each other.  “Well, I’m waiting.”

Annabeth spoke next, “The prophecy that Percy received said that we had to go west and face the god that had turned.  You are the god that is our west.  It is logi—”

“Enough!”  Hades voice echoed off the walls of the throne room.  “I am not the one that has turned.  I don’t want a war.  My land is overcrowded as it is with you mortals.  Why would I want more of you here?”

“Then who—?”  Percy began.  “Ares….”  He opened his backpack and discovered the bolt there.  “He had the bolt the entire time.  He was trying to frame me!”  Percy looked back up at Hades.

“Really?  Then tell me, did my nephew steal my Helm of Darkness as well.  Or are you just the good at lying and are trying to pin this on him?” 

I closed my eyes, I had almost forgotten about the Helm of Darkness.  “Uncle, I can account for the Helm.  We can get it back.”

Hades was quiet for a moment, “Fine, get me back the Helm and I won’t kill you.”  He then said, “You had another request for me boy.”

“My mother,” Percy said.

“Ah yes, her.”  Hades waved a hand and Percy’s mother appeared again. 

“Percy!”

“Mom!”  He went to go to her, but hit an invisible wall.

“Not so fast, you have a choice to make,” Hades said.  “Three pearls, three people.  Who are you leaving behind?”

Then it dawned on Percy.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the three pearls he had received from the spirit in the ocean at Santa Monica.  Annabeth and Grover both tried to convince him to leave them behind for his mother.  I could see the torn expression on his face as he realized someone would have to stay.

Then he looked at his mother, “I will be back.”  With that he handed a pearl to each of them and after a moment's hesitation they smashed them beneath their feet.

“Bold,” Hades said.  “I didn’t think he would actually leave her behind like that.”

“He was telling the truth, he will return for her,” I informed him.  “I need to get back.  I need to make sure he completes the rest of the quest without dying before Zeus gets the bolt back.”  I paused and turned to face Hades, “Do think about giving Charon a raise, he might leave you alone if you do.”

Hades waved his hand dismissively, “I will think about it.”

I grinned, knowing that that meant he would.  “Goodbye Uncle.”

“Goodbye Alex, I hope your brother succeeds.  He may be a brash, unmannered, demigod, but he’s got character.”  With that I was gone.

When I returned topside the first thing I saw was Los Angeles on fire, the second thing I saw was Percy locked in battle with Ares.  I have no way to describe how scared I was at seeing my twelve year old brother locked in a sword fight with Ares.

No matter if I knew what the outcome was it still scared me.  One wrong move could change everything.  Annabeth and Grover had similar looks on their faces as they watched the two duke it out.  Police sirens were screaming in the background and onlookers were watching the scene unfold in front of them.

Some were cowering behind objects, I had no idea what they were seeing, but whatever it was had to be something as equally terrifying as what I was witnessing.

The police cars arrived, but with a wave of his hand Ares set them all on fire.  I put the fires our and made sure the policemen were safe before turning back to the fight.

“The water Percy, get to the water,” I murmured.

It reminded me so much of his fight with Clarisse.  If he could get to the water he would be able to survive this encounter.  He started to back up as if he heard me and the moment he touched the water a surge of strength went rushing through him.

He managed to beat back Ares, the god looked just as shocked as Annabeth and Grover.  It was extremely rare for a mortal to beat a god in battle.  Ares threatened him, telling him that in a pivotal moment in battle when he needed his sword the most it would not come to his aid, and with that he was gone.

The helm of darkness appeared along with the three Furies.  I made my way over just as they promised to tell Hades what they had seen that day, and then they were gone.  I rushed forward and hugged my brother.  “Don’t ever scare me like that ever again!”

“Occupational hazard,” he said with a laugh as he hugged me back.  When he released me Annabeth and Grover rushed over and hugged him tightly.  “We need to go, and the only way we’re getting back to New York before tonight is if we fly.”  That could be potentially dangerous for him, but since he had the Master Bolt, Zeus wouldn’t dare blast him out of the sky.

Reporters flood toward us like a wave and began asking him all kinds of questions.  This little fight with Ares cleared his name, and he was no longer a fugitive on the run, but a captive teenager of a madman.  They even collected some money for us to all travel back to New York together.

All that was left now was to return the bolt to Zeus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Two updates in one day. I'm literally so close to finishing book one. I know it was kind of short, but it's apart of a bigger series, and book one was just sort of establishing Alex, her story, and her relationship with Percy. There are still a few more chapters left to write, but I just wanted y'all to know that this wasn't going to be too super long.


	10. Chapter 10

On the plane ride back Percy filled me in on everything he had figured out along the way.  He told me that Luke was the one that had stolen the bolt and that the voice had to belong to Kronos.  After their little encounter at the pit the whole story became a bit clearer to him.  Luke had been the friend that betrayed him just like the Oracle had told him.  I could tell it really upset him that his mentor and friend had turned on him like that.

I told him that it was all right, no one could have known Luke would do something like that, but my words didn’t seem to ease him any.  I wish there was something I could do to make him feel better, but I knew that he had to work through this at his own pace.

When we landed in New York I turned to Annabeth and Grover, “Go back to Camp and fill Chiron in on what happened.  I’ll take Percy to Olympus.  We’ll meet you back at Camp once we’re done.”  They went to protest, but one look from me had them agreeing.  I watched them hail a cab and head back toward Camp.  I turned to Percy, “Come on, time’s almost up.”  We raced toward a waiting taxi, “The Empire State Building please.”

Percy’s knee bounced up and down nervously as we rose through the New York traffic.  The cab driver went as quickly as he could and soon we had made it to the Empire State Building.  I paid the driver and hurried out of the cab.

The receptionist at the desk looked bored out of their mind.  I couldn’t blame them, it was beginning to be the end of a very long day and not much was happening.  Percy raced over.  “I need to get to the sixth hundredth floor.”

The man scoffed, “Kid, I don’t know what you’ve been drinking, but there is no sixth hundredth floor, now run along before I call security.”

I stepped up, “We need to get to Olympus now, or do you want me to tell your superiors that you’re the reason a war broke out amongst the gods?”

The man paled a little and shakily handed us a keycard, “I trust you know what to do with his?”

I nodded and gave him a sarcastic kind of smile, “Thank you.”  Then I pulled Percy over to the elevators.  Once inside I inserted the key and off we went.  The gods had changed their elevator music from 80s hits to 90s jams.  I wasn’t surprised, several of the gods hated the elevator music, including myself.

The door opened to reveal Olympus, shining and gleaming in the light.  This is where I had spent several years of my childhood, where I still spent some time when I felt like it.  Percy looked up at me, “You grew up here?”

I nodded, “The effect wears off after a while.”  I pulled him forward, “I’ll show it to you some other time, promise.  Right now I’m more worried about what will happen if we’re not in the throne room in the next five minutes.

We hurriedly along the streets.  Satyrs, nymphs, dryads, and other various forms of life were lounging and shopping or gossiping with each other.  They looked our way when they noticed us approaching.  The whispers started, but I blocked them out.  This was one of the other reasons why I did not come home often.

I tended to be the subject of gossip whenever I walked the streets.  And now here I was with my brother hurrying toward the throne room on my way to help my brother complete his quest.  The news would have spread all over Olympus by the time we were done with our audience.

When we reached the doors of the throne room I turned to Percy, “Do not be afraid.  Whatever happens I am right here with you, and I won’t let any of them hurt you.”  He nodded his head and squared his shoulders.  He had grown a lot since the first time we met and he was still getting used to the idea of there being gods running around.

I pushed open the doors and all chatter and bickering on the other side of the door ceased.  The gods turned their eyes toward us and some frowned.  I caught Father’s eye and saw the relief on his face.  We had made it and we were in one piece.  I never doubted that we would be.

I looked to Percy to see his reaction to the gods being so much taller than us, but he seemed unphased, their sheer size no longer surprising after all he had been through.

I bowed to the gods and when Percy wasn’t doing the same I smacked him on the arm.  He shot me a look, but bowed nonetheless.  When he stood back up he said, “I’m here to return the Master Bolt.”

Zeus stepped forward.  He was wearing his usual pinstripe suit, his salt ‘n pepper hair looked freshly trimmed.  His electric blue eyes trained directly on my brother.  “So you admit that you are the one that stole the bolt in the first place.”

Percy shook his head, “I wasn’t the one that stole it, Luke Castellan was.” 

Hermes stepped forward, “Who are you to—?” 

I held up a hand, “Let him speak Hermes, he’s telling the truth.”  The eyes of the gods momentarily flickered over to Hermes who hunkered down in his seat, a look of anguish on his face.  I knew Hermes cared about his son, he had loved Luke’s mother, but after what happened… well Hermes was never quite the same.

“He’s helping the Lord Kronos,” Percy said once things had died down a bit.  Everyone cringed at the use of the Titan’s name, even me.  Names had power, and evoking the Titan Lord was the brightest thing my brother could have done.  “He wants to set Kronos free.”

“The prophecy,” Athena said.  “Father—”

“No, we are not discussing this now.  I will not hear of it,” Zeus’s word was final.  “Thank you for returning the bold to me boy.  But just know that the next time you fly in my domain I will not hesitate to kill you.”  He looked at me, “Make sure that doesn’t happen.”  I nodded my head.  “Meeting adjourned.”  One by one the gods disappeared until all that was left were Percy, Father, and I.

Father turned himself into the size of a normal human and walked over to Percy and I.  He hugged me first, “Thank you for keeping him safe Alex.”

“Did you ever think I wouldn’t?”

He pulled away and shook his head, “No, but it isn’t something that you had to do.  You took on the task all by yourself.”

“Because I wanted to,” I told him.  “You know how long I’ve waited for this.”  I looked back at Percy and ruffled his hair, “I’ll give you two some time alone.  I’ll be out front waiting for you.”  With that I turned and left.  They needed a moment just the two of them.  There were things that needed to be said.

I sat on the steps and waited.  I heard the doors open and Percy’s footsteps as he came to join me on the steps.  I stood up and turned to face him.  He looked no different than how I left him, no relief, anger, or any other emotions on his face.  “Let’s go.”

“Where to?”  I asked.  I knew that Hades had returned his mother to her home.  “Would you like to see your mother?”

He nodded his head, “Yeah I would.”  There was so much emotion in his voice, and I could see tears in his eyes.  I took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

We went back down the elevator, I tossed the keycard at the receptionist, and then hailed us another cab.  Percy gave him the address of his home and we merged into traffic.  Percy hadn’t let go of my hand since getting in the cab, and it was squeezing my hand tightly.

“Do you want me to go in with you?”  I asked softly.  I wondered if this was something that he had to do alone or do you want me to go with you?”  I wasn’t sure if he was ready to introduce me to his mother yet, and I didn’t really want to see his stepfather again, but I would do whatever he wanted me to.

“Could you come with me?”  He asked, his voice was quiet and I could tell he was fighting back tears.

“Yeah,” I said just as quietly.

The cab driver pulled up to the apartment complex and we got out.  Percy walked toward the door and up the stairs with his head held high.  I was right behind him, silent support if he needed me.  Before he could even knock Sally was there.  She had flung the door open and tears filled her eyes.  “Percy,” she sobbed as she threw her arms around him.

Then Gabe appeared, “Where have you been you brat?”  Then he noticed me glaring at him.  “Hey aren’t you that detective that came here a few weeks ago?”

I raised an eyebrow, “I’m sorry you must have the wrong person, I’ve never met you before.”

He narrowed his eyes at me like he couldn’t quite believe me, but I silently willed him to forget.  “Percy, I’ve been so worried.  Gabe told me that you were a wanted criminal, and I’ve been seeing things all over the news.  I’m just so happy that you’re all right.”

Finally Sally looked up at me, “I-I know you, don’t I?”

I smiled kindly at her, “We’ve never met properly before.”  I help out my hand, “Alex Worthington.”  Percy looked at me as I choked out my last name.  “I’m Percy’s half-sister.”  Sally’s eyes widened in recognition then, as if memories were flooding back.

Gabe snorted, “Percy’s good for nothing Father had another kid, I wonder how many more of you are running around.”

“I actually live with my father,” I snapped at him.  “And he’s better than you’ll ever be.”  I froze as soon as the words came out of my mouth.  I shot Percy and apologetic look, but I would not take those words back. 

“Why you little bitch!”  Gabe raised his hand as if he was going to hit me, when Percy intervened.  He shot forward and shoved Gabe.

“Don’t you dare touch my sister!”  I looked at Sally who was watching the interaction with a horrified expression.

I pulled her out of the way and got between Percy and Gabe.  Gabe raised a hand as if to hit me, but I grabbed it.  “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to hit women?”  And with one swift movement I broke his wrist.  He cried out in pain, and he glared at me.  I squeezed his wrist a little and made him whimper.  “Go to touch me again and I’ll break the other one.”

“Get out,” he said through gritted teeth.  “The both of you.”

“Percy get your things,” I said.  “Sally go with him.  I can handle this.”

When they were gone Gabe looked at me and said, “Sally isn’t going anywhere with the two of you freaks.  She stays here with me.”

I leaned in closely, “One day karma will bite you in the ass Gabe, and one day your gonna wish you didn’t piss me off.”  I squeezed his wrist again and this time he almost hit the floor.  Percy and Sally returned a moment later and I released Gabe.  I looked at Sally, “He’ll be safe with me.”  She nodded and watched us go with teary eyes.

Once we were back on the street Percy glared up at the building.  “I shouldn’t leave her there!  Not when I know he gets violent.”

I set Percy’s belongings down and grabbed him by the shoulders, “Percy listen to me, things are going to work out.  Your mother will be fine.  You gave her the head didn’t you?”  He nodded.  “Then she’ll be okay.  Your mother is a strong woman, she can handle the likes of Gabe.”

“Are you sure?”

“A hundred percent,” I told him.  “I’ll come check on her in a few days to make sure she’s all right.  In the meantime, we need to get you back to Camp so you can tell Chiron your side of the story.”  I didn’t hail a cab this time I just transported us there myself.  And gods did it feel good to be back home.


	11. Chapter 11

The valley looked just as peaceful as ever, but there was an energy there that I couldn’t quite place.  Maybe it had to do with Luke betraying the camp, maybe it was because of what had been about to go down on Olympus.  Whatever it was I was hoping our presence would bring some calm to it.

I led Percy to the Big House where Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover were waiting for us.  Chiron looked relieved to see us back safe and sound.  I could tell he wasn’t sure if the gods would smite him or not, and if I hadn’t been there that could have been a very real possibility.  Percy wasn’t known for his tact with the gods.  He was more to the point.

“Percy, Alex, it’s good to see you both.  Come on in and we can discuss what happened.”  He turned and headed for the front door.  Annabeth and Grover hugged Percy, but left to attend to duties of their own.  They didn’t need to be here for this. 

Percy and I took a seat on the couch in the living room, some food set out for us.  Percy reached for it and began eating.  I wasn’t surprised at how hungry he was, we hadn’t eaten since Vegas.  Chiron let us eat in peace before we began talking.

“First tell me about Luke,” I said.  “When did he leave?”

“He disappeared in the middle of the night yesterday,” Chiron told me.  “No one knew where he went or what had happened to him.  I’m assuming it because you all figured out that he was a traitor and working for the Titan Lord of time.”  Chiron ran a hand through his hair.  “If only we had seen it coming.”

“No one could have known,” I assured him.  “He was very good at keeping secrets from others.”

Chiron made a noise in the back of his throat.  “Alex I want you to keep an eye out for him.  I want to know if he’s still in the city or anywhere near here.”  I nodded, I currently didn’t know where he was, but I had a feeling he was heading for the Princess Andromeda.  That’s where he would be in the next year.  Percy’s next summer would be just as crazy as this one, but there was time to worry about that later.

Percy took a big gulp of the soda he had sitting in front of him and sighed, “It feels so good to have real food again.”  Chiron and I both chuckled.  “Has anything else happened since we’ve been away?”

Chiron shook his head, “Nothing out of the ordinary, tell me about your time away from Camp.”  And so we did.  Both of us launching into our own accounts of what happened from the moment we left Camp, to the moment we stood before the gods on Olympus.  Chiron stood there listening quietly, taking in everything we told him.  “It sounds like the two of you had quite the adventure.”  We snorted, that was an understatement.  “We can discuss this more in the morning, but the both of you look like you’re in need of a good night’s rest, go to bed.  You’re safe now.”

Percy let out a yawn and nodded his head, “Thanks Chiron.”  Then he made his way toward the door sleepily.  I smiled and chased after him. 

I wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and he leaned his head against my side, “You did good kid, especially for your first summer at Camp.”

“Yeah, it was real fun,” he said in a sarcastic tone. 

I squeezed him, “Let’s get some rest yeah?”  He nodded and when we made it back to our cabin he didn’t bother changing before he passed out on his bunk.  I covered him with a blanket before heading over to my own bed and falling asleep.

 

The morning after we arrived back at Camp was a slow one.  I made the executive decision that my brother and I deserved to sleep in a little longer than normal.  I hoped that Annabeth and Grover were doing the same, but there was a knocking at the door that told me otherwise.

It was loud and insistent, and it made Percy and I groan.  “Go away!”  I shouted at whoever was on the other side of the door.  “We’re still sleeping.”

“Alex!  Percy get up!  It’s time for breakfast,” Annabeth shouted through the door.

I stood up and flung the door open.  Annabeth was standing there with her hair pulled back into her usual ponytail, fresh Camp Half-Blood t-shirt on, and she didn’t look a bit sleepy.  “How are you not more tired?”

She shrugged, “Chiron sent me.  He wants you two at the pavilion in five.”

I closed my eyes and nodded my head, “Fine, we’ll be there.”  I closed the door and grabbed a pillow off one of the unused bunks and hit Percy with it.  “Rise and shine buttercup, Chiron wants us at breakfast.” 

He groaned and glared up at me, “Was the pillow necessary?”

I nodded my head, “Yes, yes it was.  Now get up.”  I formed a makeshift changing screen so we could both change in peace and once we were done we started up the hill toward the dining hall.  Everyone was already there eating and chatting away.  When we entered they stopped and began cheering and clapping.  Percy’s cheeks got a little red at all the attention he was receiving. 

“All right, all right, that’s enough,” Chiron said with a smile.  “Percy Alex, do you mind coming over her for a moment before getting your food?”  We walked over to him.  “Percy, I want you to train with the Athena cabin today.  I’ve got some things that I’d like to discuss with Alex.”

“All right, I don’t mind,” Percy said.

Chiron looked at me, “Meet me after breakfast and we can go over what I wanted to talk about.”

I nodded, it must be serious if he didn’t want Percy around to hear what he had to tell me.  I figured it had to do with Kronos coming back and everything that went down while we were gone.  I could see the questions swirling around in his eyes.

Percy and I grabbed our plates and began to eat.  “How does it feel to be back?”  I asked him once we had gotten settled.

“Weird,” he replied.  “But good.  This whole summer has just flown by, and it almost feels as if this is some kind of dream that I’m going to wake up from.  Since the moment I learned who I was and since I learned about you, it just seems like it’s all some crazy dream my brain came up with.  Maybe I wake up from a coma and learn all this was fake.”

“It’s not a dream, and you aren’t in a coma,” I told him with a laugh.  “This entire summer happened, you went on a quest, you’re the son of Poseidon, and I’m your half-sister.”

“I’m really glad I have you, Alex,” he told me.  “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here.”

“You would have been fine,” I told him.  “Annabeth and Grover would have made sure that you stayed on track with the quest.”

He glanced over at the Athena table searching for Annabeth, “Yeah, you’re right.  Like always,” he looked back at me and grinned.

I shrugged my shoulders, “What can I say?  I’ve been around the block a few times.”  We both laughed at that and once breakfast was over Percy went to join the Athena cabin for their training activities.  Several people clapped him on the back and started talking to him.  He started talking right back, such a far cry from how it was when everyone learned that he was a son of Poseidon.

Chiron walked over to me, his eyes on Percy as well.  “He’s a good kid.”

“He is, and he’ll become better as he gets older,” I said with a smile. 

“Come, there are things we need to discuss.”  We headed back to the Big House where Mr. D was waiting for us in the living room. 

“Hello Mr. D,” I said with a smile.

“Alex,” he replied.  “I see your brother didn’t fail in his quest.”

“I knew he wouldn’t,” I replied.

Mr. D waved a dismissive hand, “The future is never set in stone, one small ripple and things can be thrown out of balance.”

“Yes, but we’re not here to discuss how well Alex did at keeping her brother on track.”  Chiron looked toward me, “Is Percy going to be the child of the prophecy?”

“Right to the point I see,” I said as I leaned back into the chair I was sitting in.  “I don’t know, it depends on the other three.”  Chiron and Mr. D both looked at me in shock.  “There will be three more, a child of Zeus, and two children of Hades.  But it will most likely be Percy who is the child in question.”

Mr. D cussed in Ancient Greek, “Why make a deal if you’re going to break it?!”

“Technically Hades didn’t break the deal,” I informed them.  “The children are currently trapped in the Lotus Casino and Hotel.  Hades wanted to protect his children, which he and the woman had the children before World War II.  Before the Prophecy was ever recited.  He probably locked the children away so that they wouldn’t be a part of it.”

“So they’re twins?”  Mr. D asked.

I shook my head, “No, he fell in love with this women, and he had two children with her before she was killed.”

“I remember her,” Mr. D said.  “Hades tried to keep her and the children hidden, but it didn’t work.  Father found out about them and destroyed the hotel.  He thought that Maria and the children both died….”

“They didn’t,” I said solemnly.  “Maria di Angelo was killed, but Hades had enough time that he was able to shield the children from the attack.  He had them taken in secret to the Lotus Casino and that’s where they’ve been ever since their mother’s death.”

Chiron and Mr. D were both quiet, both of them taking in the new information.  Finally Chiron looked up at me, “But you’re almost positive that Percy will be the child of the Prophecy?”

“Yes, there are certain events that are going to come to pass and once they do I’ll know for certain whether Percy is the child or not.”

Mr. D shook his head, “I never thought I’d see the day when the Titans rose up out of Tartarus.”

“We had all hoped that wouldn’t happen,” Chiron said solemnly.  “We just have to pray for the best outcome.”

I was about to respond when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.  “Something’s wrong,” I whispered.  Mr. D and Chiron looked at me with twin looks of worry on their faces.  “Oh gods,” I murmured as I went rushing for the door.

“Alex wait!”  Chiron called after me.

“Percy!”  I began screaming as I got closer to the sword training arena.  “Percy!”  The Athena cabin stopped what they were doing and looked toward me with shocked expressions.

Annabeth pushed through the crowd, “Hey what’s wrong?”

I grabbed her, “Where’s Percy?”

“He’s not with you?”  She asked in confusion.  “He got a note saying that you wanted to speak with him.”

I turned and found Chiron rushing up behind me.  “Put the camp on alert, tell them to start looking for Percy.  Search the woods, search everywhere.  Luke is here, and I think he’s trying to kill Percy. The others need to know just in case they come up on him, he could try and kill anyone that gets in his way.”

Chiron raced off and Annabeth started barking orders to her siblings tell them to fan out.  Then she came over to me, “Come on, I’ll help you look.”

I led her to the woods and as we reached the edge I saw several nymphs carrying Percy between them.  He was unconscious.  “It was Luke,” one of them said.  “He tricked Percy, he was stung by a pit scorpion.”  I turned over his palm and saw the wound.  It was angry and red. 

I took him from the nymphs, shooting them a grateful look before transporting Percy and myself to the Big House.  I had to get him nectar and ambrosia quickly or the wound wouldn’t heal and he would die.  I set him in one of the rooms and rushed down to the kitchen and began rifling through the spaces where we kept the nectar and ambrosia.

I made it back upstairs just as Annabeth and Chiron came rushing in.  They helped me feed Percy the food and we all took a step back.  Annabeth reached out and took my hand.  The wound started to heal and his breathing became normal, but he was still unconscious.

“I’m going to keep an eye on him, and I’ll make sure he gets the nectar and ambrosia,” I told them.  “Inform the others that we found him.”  Annabeth gave my hand one last squeeze before she followed Chiron out of the room.  I stood over Percy and brushed back his hair, “You’re going to be okay kid, I promise.”  Then I leaned down and kissed his forehead before taking a seat beside his bed and watching over him diligently.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Alex goes a little into detail about her abusive past at the beginning of this chapter when she's talking with Sally.

“Alex?”  Percy stirred beside me and my head jerked up.  “What happened?”

I relaxed, he had made it through the night.  He would make it.  “You were stung by a pit scorpion.  Luke tried to kill you,” I told him.  “What were you doing going out into the woods like that?”

He rubbed his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut, “I got a letter saying it was from you, it said to meet you in the woods that you were done with Chiron and that you wanted to talk to me.  But when I got to the meeting point you weren’t there.  That’s when Luke appeared.  He told me everything, about how he wanted a war with the gods and how he was working with Kronos.  He hates them so much, Alex.”

I hung my head, “I should have known that he would try and kill you.  Don’t worry Percy, we’ll be more diligent next time.  I won’t let him hurt you again.”

Chiron came walking into the room, “Ah Percy, you woke up.  Good to see you doing better.” 

“What day is it?”

“Ah you’ve only been out for about a day, don’t worry not much time has passed.  I’m glad you’re awake because there’s something I would like to discuss with you.  Summer is coming to a close and I would like to know if you wish to stay here or go home for school.”

Percy looked at me, “My mom….”

“I’ll go check on her today,” I told him.  “If she’s still with Gabe remember the promise I made you.  You and I can get an apartment and you can live with me until the summertime rolls around.”

“Go check on Mom, and then I’ll make my decision,” he said.

I nodded and looked at Chiron, “I’ll be back shortly.”  And then I vanished.  Sometimes I really being able to think of my location and then just magically blink there.  It made the commute time so much shorter.  I walked up to the apartment where Sally and Gabe lived and found the door open and boxes everywhere.  I knocked on the open door and said, “Hello?”

A moment later Sally appeared around a corner.  She froze when she saw me.  “Alex,” she looked around me searching for Percy.  Her eyes became wide and fearful, “Did something happen?”

“No, well yes, but he’s fine.  I actually came to check on you.  A promise I made to him the day things went awry with Gabe.  I am sorry about that, it’s just… well Gabe rubs me the wrong way, and I know how he treated you and Percy.”  I shifted uncomfortably.  “He’s not here is he?”

She shook his head, “No he’s gone.”

I grinned, “Turned to stone eh?”  She looked at me wide-eyed.  “Oh right, I know Percy gave you the head of Medusa, and uh I know things….  It’s hard to explain.”

“Why don’t you come on in?  We can talk.”  She walked over and shut the door before heading into the living room and taking a seat on the couch.  “Why don’t we start from the beginning?  You said you lived with your father, how is that possible?  I thought the gods couldn’t have contact with their mortal offspring.”

I rubbed my arms, “Ah, that is a long story.  My mother, well she wasn’t the best.  She was addicted to drugs and alcohol, it started shortly after she had me.  She blamed me for the reason why Dad left her, and for all her troubles since then.”  I cringed as I had the image of Mom hitting me with the broom as if I was some unwanted vermin in the house.  I blinked back tears, “She used to scream at me all the time, hit me, sometimes she wouldn’t even feed me.”  I would have to sneak into the kitchen late at night and steal little bits of food just to stave off some of the hunger.  “Things got better when she met Charlie, he got her into a support group and rehab.  They began dating and life for me got better.

“Then she took me to the beach, a way of saying sorry.  Father found out what had been happening and had been trying to figure out a way to get me out of the situation, he didn’t want to just show up and take me.  So when I stepped into the ocean he sensed me and he dragged me under.”  I remembered the feeling of the waves crashing over me, the fear of this being my final moments.  Wondering if they would ever find my body.  “He raised me on Olympus with the other gods, until he took me to Camp Half-Blood, I’ve been there ever since, occasionally going home to stay with Dad.”

Sally sat there with a stunned look on her face, “Oh Alex, I am so sorry.”

I shrugged, “It happened and now it’s over.”  I looked down at my arms and removed the glamour covering up several scars.  “These were from some bad days.”  Sally covered her mouth with her hand.  “Even Percy doesn’t know about these.”  I covered them with a glamour.  “Most people at Camp know my story, but I always hid the scars, it helped keep further questions at bay.”

She reached out as if she was going to do a comforting gesture and then stopped herself, “May I?”  She asked in a soft voice.  I nodded, tears in my eyes as she reached out and took my hand.  “Gabe never hit Percy.  Only ever me.”

“That doesn’t make it okay,” I said quietly.

“You’re right it doesn’t, but I would never put Percy through that.  I always made sure Gabe’s anger was directed at me, it’s one reason why I sent him away during the school months.  I just wanted to keep him safe.”

I nodded, I knew Sally would do anything to keep Percy safe.  “Anything else you would like to know?”

“You said you know things, what did you mean by that?” 

I let out a little sigh, “I’m not technically mortal anymore.”  This is where things got complicated.  “There’s a prophecy about a child of the elder gods.  To prevent me from being that child, they turned me into an immortal.  I’ll never age, but I made a deal with them.  I would only be immortal until after the prophecy had been fulfilled.  Along with the immortality I have gifts.  Sight is one of those gifts,” it wasn’t a complete lie, but I really didn’t want to tell her I knew a possibility of Percy’s future.  “I just knew you would use the head to freeze Gabe.”

She nodded, she bought my explanation.  “Well you were right, and I made quite a bit of money off of that statue of them.  With the money I got a better apartment, I’m going back to school, and I can afford to send Percy to school here in the city.  I’ve found a place for him and everything.  That is if he wants to come back.”

“I’m sure he will,” I gave her a smile.  “I can head back to Camp now and see what he wants to do.  But I’m pretty sure he wants to come home with you.”  I stood up and she did the same.  “I’ll send word when he’s made his choice.”

“Thank you, Alex,” she said as we stopped at the door.  “Thank you for taking care of him.”

I shrugged, “You don’t have to thank me, he’s my brother.  I love him.”  With that I was gone.

 

Percy had been in the dining pavilion when I returned, he was eating actual food instead of the food of the gods.  I took a seat next to him, “Guess what?”

“Is she okay?”  He immediately stopped eating.

I nodded, “She’s better than okay.  Gabe is gone, and she came into some money.  She’s going back to school, she got a new apartment, and she found a school for you in the city so you can live with her.”

His face brightened, “Really?”

I nodded, “Yep, I told her I would let her know what you wanted to do, but that I was pretty sure you’d want to stay with her.”

He nodded his head enthusiastically but then paused.  “What about you?”

I waved him off, “I’ll come visit you, you need to be with your mom.”  I pulled him in for a hug.  “We can live together during the summers when you come back to Camp.”  Which those days were numbered.  Some of the seasonal campers would be leaving soon, and that included Percy.  I pulled him in for a hug, “Don’t worry about me.”

He hugged me back, “Thank you for checking on her for me.”

“Of course,” I said.  Then I pulled away, “Now finish eating.”  I ruffled his hair and got up.  “Meet me down by the lake when you’re done.  We’ll take a swim together.”

Percy came down to the lake with me and dove right in.  I went in after him and for a portion of the afternoon we stayed underwater hanging out with the Naiads that inhabited the lake.  We only came out of the water when it was time to eat.

 

I sent a letter to Sally the next day to tell her that Percy would be coming home for the winter months.  We also informed Chiron of this.  Annabeth walked over to me as I ate lunch with Percy and took a seat, “So I’m leaving Camp….”

I nearly choked on my food, “What?”

She nodded her head, “I wrote home to my dad and he said he would really like to try again, so once the summer is up I’m going to try and go home.”

“That’s great Annabeth.”  I knew she missed her father even though they had a long and complicated past.  They hadn’t left things on good terms when Annabeth had run away from home when she was seven.  “Let me know if you need anything.  You know I’ll be there in a heartbeat.”

“I know,” she responded with a smile.

The three of us sat there and talked for a while when Grover came racing over.  “Guys!  Guys guess what!”  Grover was practically bursting with excitement.  “I’m going to be a searcher!”

“Congratulations!”  We all shouted as we pulled him in for a group hug.

“I knew you could do it,” I said with a smile.  “All you had to do was believe in yourself.”

His cheeks turned a little pink, “It’s thanks to Percy as well.  If you hadn’t stuck up for me that day with the Cloven Elders they probably wouldn’t have agreed to this.  But they gave me my searcher’s license.  I leave in a few days.”

“I’m going to miss you man,” Percy said.  “But I’m really happy for you.”

“I’ll keep in touch, I promise,” Grover said.  “I need to go pack my things!”  He rushed off to gather his things.

It seemed like I would be one of the only ones from our little ragtag group that would be staying behind at Camp this summer.  But I was happy that things were working out well for the others.  Percy and Annabeth talked some about going home and their plans when they returned to Camp the following summer, and possibly coming back for winter break.

I got up quietly and let them have their moment alone.


	13. Chapter 13

The days started to dwindle down until the end of summer.  Some of the kids were already leaving to go home to their mortal parents.  The end of the year campfire and fireworks on the beach went off and Percy got the first bead for his necklace.

“It symbolizes that you survived a summer,” I told him.  “I pulled out mine and should him all the beads.  I had plenty and crazy stories to go along with them.  “I’ll tell you the stories sometime,” I promised him. 

I handed him the leather cord and the bead I had made him.  It was a green bead with a trident on it, I had made one for myself as well.  “Thanks, Alex.”

I nodded my head, “So tomorrow we’ll get up early and I’ll take you to your mom’s new place.  I’ll even stay for dinner, she said I could.  I think she’s making pizza.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this arrangement?”  He had a worried look on his face.  “I can—”

“Do not say stay, you are going to school, and you should live with your mom.  Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” I said. 

 

Chiron came to the cabin to tell Percy good-bye the next day.  “I’m glad things worked out for you my boy.  And I’m happy you were successful on your quest.”

“Thanks Chiron, and I promise that I’ll try to stay out of trouble this year.”  We all chuckled like we knew that wasn’t going to happen.

“I’ll be back after a while,” I told Chiron.  “I’m having dinner with Percy and his mom.”

“Have fun Alex, and tell Sally I said hello.”

“Will do,” I told him.  I took Percy’s hand, “Ready?”  He nodded and I transported us to his mom’s new apartment.  It was spacious, it had three bedrooms instead of two, and a nice size living room with a great view of the city.  It also smelled so much better than the last place.

“Mom?”  Percy called out.

Sally came rushing in from the kitchen where I could smell the pizza waiting for us.  “Percy,” she threw her arms around him and gave him a huge hug.  Then she looked up at me, “Hello Alex.”  She held out her arms and I stepped into her embrace.  It felt nice being hugged by someone, it felt safe.  “Thank you for bringing him home.”

“It was no problem,” I told her.  “The food smells great.”

“It’ll be weird not sacrificing a portion of my food to Dad anymore,” Percy commented.

Sally and I both chuckled, “Yeah that’s going to be the weird part.”

Sally led us both into the dining room and we helped ourselves to some delicious pizza, and afterward blue cake.  I found it endearing how they had blue food.  It was something special the two of them did.  After we had eaten Sally told us which school Percy would be going to, and how she thought it would be a right fit for him.

I promised to visit often and if he ever needed help with homework I was the woman for the job.  I stayed for a few more hours and helped him unpack his things before pulling him into my arms.  “I gotta get back kid, I’ll see you later.”

Percy squeezed me tightly like he didn’t want to let me go, “Stay.”

My heart broke a little, “I can’t.  You need to be with your mom right now and I have to get back to Camp.”

He held me tighter, “I’m not letting you go until you promise me that you’ll stay in the city with me some nights.  We can go out and do things on the weekends, and you can stay over if Mom is ever out late.”

“If it’s all right with Sally, I’ll do that, but she doesn’t have to house me, I’m not her kid.”  I kissed the top of my head.  “Now let me go so I can go home, the sooner I go, the sooner I’ll come back.”  With a soft sigh he released me and I disappeared back to Camp.

 

“Come over in a few days,” Percy said.  It had been a few weeks since I had dropped him off at his mom’s place.  “I want to tell you how my first few weeks at school have been.”

Percy and I were currently Iris messaging one another.  I had sent him a few drachmas so we could do this on occasion.  “All right, and I’ll bring some dinner how does that sound?”

“Great!”  I heard Sally calling Percy’s name.  “I gotta go, Mom just got home with dinner.  I’ll talk to you later all right?”

“All right, tell your mom hi for me.”

“I will, love you, Alex!”

“Love you to kid,” I swiped my hand through the mist and the connection was lost.  I was glad to see him so excited about school, I know he had been having trouble when he was at Yancy Academy, but he seemed to really like it Meriwether College Prep.  He had even made a friend with a boy named Tyson.  I was relieved to see he was fitting in and making friends there.

I headed up to the Big House to tell Chiron how he was doing.  Chiron never asked for these little updates about Percy, but I knew he appreciated them.  “Hello Alex, finish talk with Percy?”  Chiron set aside the book he was reading and turned his full attention to me.

“Yes I did, and he’s doing well.  He’s enjoying it at his new school and he even has a friend.”  I took a seat on the sofa and summoned some of the cookies that they had stashed her for Mr. D.  They were the weird sugar cookie ones that didn’t really have a taste, but for some reason everyone loved them.  “I’m happy that he’s fitting in and living a normal life, especially after this past summer.”

“You and me both, Alex.  He struggled so much at Yancy Academy, it’s nice that he’s found a place where he can fit in and feel comfortable.  Are you going to go see him?”  Chiron knew I had been staying away for a while.  One so I could readjust to life without my brother around and two to give him time to get settled into a routine.

“Yep, I’m going to get dinner and hang out with him for a bit.  I’m pretty sure Sally has school late tomorrow so I’ll pick him up and we’ll get dinner together.”  I brushed some cookie crumbs off of my jeans.  “I’ll tell him you said hi.”

“Yes please do,” Chiron nodded. 

We lapsed into silence until I sighed, “I’m so lonely without him.”

Chiron walked over and patted my shoulder, “I know, Alex.  But think of it like this, you’ll only be apart for a few months, he said he’d come back for winter break, and before you know it he’ll be back here at Camp.”

He was right, but I couldn’t but miss him in the evenings or training with him throughout the day.  “I was thinking of going to Olympus and staying there for a while.  Just so I wouldn’t feel so alone, you know?  Or maybe joining up with Artemis for a few months and following her and the hunters around.”

“I think that would be a lovely idea if that’s what you wanted to do,” he told me.  “Whatever you decide you know I’ll support you.”

“I know Chiron,” and he would.  No matter what Chiron would always support my decisions.

 

The next day I headed to Meriwether to pick Percy up.  He rushed down the stairs when he saw me.  “You came!”

“I said I would didn’t I?”  I brushed back his hair and said, “Hotdogs, burgers, or pizza?”

“Burgers,” he told me.  “I know the perfect place.  Mom and I go there a lot.  It’s great.”  He led me down the street informing me of how his day had gone.  The school was very lax and didn’t believe in desks or normal things some schools had.  Percy enjoyed not being forced into a desk.

We got to the burger place and placed our order, Percy getting a burger for his mom as well.  I paid and we headed back to his apartment.  “Need any help with your homework?”  I asked him as we headed for the elevator.

“Nah, it’s not too bad right now.  I think they’re still trying to get us acclimated to the whole system.”  He unlocked the apartment door.  “Mom, I’m home.”

Sally was in the dining room table pouring over papers and books and scribbling notes on a sheet of paper like her life depended on it.  “I offered to help Percy with his homework, but maybe I should have offered to help you, Ms. J.”

Sally chuckled and pulled her glasses off, “Hello to you too Alex, and call me Sally.  Please.”

I took a seat and smiled at her, “All right Sally, we picked up a burger for you.”  I pulled it out and slid it across the table to her.  She looked tired like she had been up all night cramming for a test.

“Thank you,” she unwrapped it and took a big bite out of it.  She asked Percy how his day was and he launched into the same story he had told me.  She listened intently and smiled at him every so often.  I could see the love and pride in her eyes and she watched him.  “I’m glad you’re liking your new school Perc,” she said once he had finished.

“Me too,” he responded.  “Can we tell her now?”

I looked between the two of them confused, “Tell me what?”

Sally let out a little laugh, “Ah so impatient you are.”  She looked at me, “Percy and I have been talking lately and there’s a reason why he invited you over tonight.  We wanted to ask if you wanted to move in with us?”

I blinked, “What?”

“We want you to move in,” Percy said.  “You’re alone at Camp and you could be here with me, and you’d still be close to Camp, and Olympus if you needed to go there.  It’s perfect, we could spend more time together and you wouldn’t have to commute all the time.”

“There was something else as well,” Sally said.  “And I don’t mean to spring all this on you, but I wanted to know if you’d like to be my daughter.  I wouldn’t adopt you legally of course, you’re too old for that now.  But you’d still be my daughter.”

I looked at Percy who was nodding his head encouraging me to do this.  Then I looked back at Sally who was looking so unsure of herself, like she wasn’t sure if I would even like this idea.  And in that moment I felt so overwhelmed that I burst into tears.  “Alex?”  Percy sounded a little alarmed at my outburst.

I heard Sally get up and walk into the next room and come back a moment later.  She sat something down in front of me.  When I looked up I saw a box of tissues.  I grabbed one and began wiping my eyes.  “I’m sorry, it’s just I’ve always wanted something like this.  A place to come home to, a place that wasn’t about the gods or Camp.”  I sniffled, “I’d be honored if you were my mom.”

Sally smiled, and I saw her relax.  Percy was ecstatic.  “This is going to be great, we don’t have to Iris message anymore.”  I laughed.

“There’s one other thing,” Sally said.  “Percy told me that you hate your old last name, so if you wanted to you can change it to Jackson, and officially become a part of the family.”

“Nothing would make me happier.”

Two weeks later I had fully moved into Sally and Percy’s apartment, now my apartment to I guess, and changed my last name from Worthington to Jackson.  I was even looking for a job to help Sally out with the rent so that was one less thing she had to worry about.

I didn’t know how living here was going to go, but I finally had my own little family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends book one. I'm not sure when book two will be up. I still have to come up with a name for it. But it will be within the next few weeks to a month hopefully. I hoped like you liked book one, and I can't wait to share with you my other story ideas for Alex Jackson :).

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd  
> Thanks for reading!


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